Night Rain
by Kraehenschrei
Summary: In the Narutoverse nothing ever happens as you have planned. Especially if you are a foreigner. OC/SI. Rewritten.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Welcome back to Night Rain old readers and hello to the people, who are new to the story! Sorry for the long wait but Amaya is finally back! I don't want to waste your time so straight to important things~

A few you things you need to know:

\- I haven't changed anything major about the plot, though I'd suggest old readers start from the beginning or else they might miss something.  
\- The chapters are less than before but longer so no original content is missing.  
\- The story is OC/SI, with several OCs and it might contain spoilers if you haven't read the manga.  
\- Don't expect absolute accuracy when it comes to facts from the anime/manga.  
\- Minor hints of SasukexOC  
\- All characters set in the description will play a major role (obviously), though will appear with the progress of the plotline.  
\- I am an amateur writer so expect flaws.

Rating: **T**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Naruto franchise. All rights belong to its respectful owners. I do not get any profit from this story.

* * *

**Night Rain**  
Prologue

Now, where do I start this?

I guess by explaining how my life ended. But since it's not important to the story whatsoever, I'll just introduce you to my (ex-)life.

I was a normal teenager dealing with ever-changing moods and school. You know how it is – every little hindrance is a big deal, nothings seems to be fair, life is hard and so on. Though I can say, I was pretty happy with my life. If I think about it now I never did anything wrong but nor did I contribute to the world.

It's still a complete mystery for me why I died. But I did.

My death was fast and painless. Actually I didn't feel anything at all – I couldn't feel my hands and legs; couldn't hear myself breathing. It seemed like 'me' was no longer a physical form but more like spiritual. Wherever I was, back then I had guessed between life and death, it was pitch black. As far as my sight could reach there was not a single ray of light. I was floating somewhere in space, all by myself.

I didn't know how much time I spent there but I was beginning to frighten – was I going to stay like that forever?

Gradually, I detected distant talking. It was too far away for me to make out words but I knew it was getting louder. I felt uncomfortable, like I'd been stuffed in skin that wasn't mine. The voices were now no more than a few meters away but for some reason they were muffled. There were at least three different. One of them was speaking slow with a calming tone, the other, much alike, had a stricter undertone. The third, though, was another thing – I could tell it was a woman, who shouted at the top of her lungs.

For a moment I thought it were my parents crying over my loss. On the second, I was blinded by a huge light. Cold air brushed my body and I became aware I was feeling again. Someone held me, touched me, squeezed me. A total lack of respect for my personal space.

I was oversensitive; every little speck of dust made me wince in pain. At some point I was so fed up with it, I decided it was time to inform them, whoever they were. Only when I tried to speak I let out a cry. I tried again with the same result. Panic seized me.

'_What is going on?!'_

I opened my eyes, I didn't know I had closed, and saw only blurry images. Tilting my head didn't work as well – my body wouldn't listen. Also, there was something odd about my body. How did I fit into someone's hands?

As I was being held again, dragged off to somewhere, I found out one very important thing. The only (not so) logical explanation of this was that I was a baby again. Somehow it made sense – I just died so I was reborn. But. Why the heck would I be reborn?! I thought these stuff only happen in books and movies.

I was placed onto something rather soft and torture began. I guess, they made some obligatory tests on me, which was painful as hell. To make them stop I began crying as loud as I could but they just ignored me and continued.

The torture didn't last more than 5 minutes and I was finally left in peace.

My mind raced. Where was I? Was this whole thing a dream? What happened with my family, friends? No, it wasn't a dream. My stomach ached from the sudden nervousness I felt. I was all alone in a new place I didn't know and I couldn't even take care of my own self.

Well shit.

* * *

Time was hard to tell when you have nothing to do except sleep, which didn't work for me because I was too paranoid. Falling asleep meant losing notion of what was happening and it was hard enough to tell with my sight of a mole in the first place. So in the rare cases when I slept it was either because I'd passed out or my mind was too blurry to work (both not really healthy for a newborn).

I assumed this constant anxiety continued approximately 4-5 days while I had still been in the hospital. It had been lonely days, albeit the non-stop buzzing of people around me. It had probably been a big disappointment for my parents to get ignored from their child; they weren't actually** my** parents. I couldn't have been sure they were anyways. This whole situation hadn't let them down, however, and they kept coming, smiling at me, talking calmly; full of love.

That's when I first noticed the language was wrong. I could hear it clearly yet I couldn't understand a word. It sounded like Korean or Japanese – I didn't know.

Not only had I been reborn but it** had **to be a country, completely different from my own.

Wait.

'_I am not in North Korea, aren't I?!' _The thought made me shiver but I knew I had to disregard it for my own good. I was reborn in a foreign country – it couldn't be worse than that.

Now, already in my new home, things were different. It was my first conscious encounter with pure, genuine parental love.

Guilt was the proper word to describe what I felt. These people put their heart into my wellbeing and I disrespected them. Of course, they didn't know how I felt, probably thinking my behavior was normal for a baby. Still, my conscience screamed that what I was doing was wrong so I tried to pay them more attention. When seeing their silhouette I forced a bright smile, giggling and laughing. It made me the impression of a jubilant child.

When alone, the memories of my family stroke at me, tearing me up. For me, being reborn was not a gift, as ungrateful as I sounded, it was similar to a punishment, the reasons for I didn't know. I was afraid in this place.

* * *

I was naïve at first – thought I would never cry, because that was the most annoying thing about babies. It worked the first few hours, then, I starved. Quickly unchecking this from my to-not-do list, I let out a fierce to signify I craved food/milk.

Boredom was a thing that bothered me, distracting me from my main line of thoughts, but it was manageable. My parents had provided me with rattles and toys to keep me busy and distracted, which I was anyway, and they stayed in the corner of my crib, untouched.

After the idea of being reborn sank in, I concentrated on learning the language. If anything I was positive it was Japanese. Multiple times I tried to repeat a word any of my parents said just to fail and receive their response.

"Nani?" Was what they asked every time, smiling brightly at me. From the little experience I had with anime, I knew this word stood for 'what'.

However, I was nervous that I won't be able to learn it as fast and would be regarded as a mooncalf. Babies learned from hearing, when they are talked to, when listening to other converse. I was planning on doing the same but the fact I had a developed mind bothered me.

When my sight cleared completely I had one really good look at my new parents. From head to toe, when they were once together in my room.

I noticed my father wasn't visiting me a lot, maybe he wasn't even in the house this often, but when he did it was the purest love one could feel coming from him.

Anyway what their appearance wasn't anything special. With one word I could describe them as average – average height, weight, looks. They both had the darkest black hair, I'd ever seen and mom the bluest eyes. They took good care of me as well; made sure I was always warm, fed and comfortable.

One of the reasons why this one night seemed so unusual. It was a few months after I'd been reborn and it began as every other. It was already dark when I started feeling uneasy and somewhat scared of the air itself. It felt suffocating. It was heavier and denser than before; made my head hurt and my body cringe.

My parents came minutes after it started and took me somewhere. They seemed nervous as well but not to the point of actually being scared. I wish I could stay awake to see what it was but once again I had reached the limits of my energy.

When I woke up everything was back to normal.

* * *

A lot of things happened in the past year.

I learned to live with the painful memories of a previous life; got accustomed to a completely foreign culture; learned a new language that had nothing in common with English (The learning process wasn't all that bad even – being completely immersed in it sped up the process a lot.) and I began exploring my new world.

I was led by the question of where exactly in time I was – was I in the future or in the past. That'd be creepy. Or maybe I got reborn on the same day I died and somewhere across the world my real parents were mourning over my death. Maybe there was a way to meet them again? Explain them everything to them.

My mother had started taking me out with her over time, when I had gotten old enough. Grateful for this opportunity I smiled every time, making it look like I had a natural love for the outdoors. On the contrary, I preferred staying home but under the circumstances I had to use every chance to study my new hometown.

Only in my case it was a rather small village.

I had noticed it almost straight away. Our walks were no longer than an hour, although we went from one end to another, evident borderlines in the distance. The mean of living was agriculture. Every here and there were street-stalls, hosted by women offering variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Mother not only shopped from there but also talked, sometimes getting carried away.

It was one of those days today. She was gossiping with an old friend for over 20 minutes now. I grew bored of it pretty fast and began pulling her hair in an attempt to signal her. She ignored it completely.

To ease the boredom I looked around, seeing mostly familiar people – that's how it was in smaller villages; everyone knew everyone. My gaze stopped at an outstanding group of people. I focused on them and noticed something really distinctive. They were all dressed the same way – navy blue pants, green vests and headbands bearing the symbol of a leaf.

I furrowed my baby-brows in confusion as I realized it was the Konohagakure symbol. Of course, I thought they were cosplayers – it made sense although being odd. Then I inspected their faces – one was a spot on Genma; everything on him was perfect. The other two rang no bells.

'_Why are these people here? I don't think there is a cosplaying contest here… maybe they are just passing by? I still don't know where is this village locat..' _ I dropped my line of thinking once I saw – no, **glimpsed** them vanishing. They disappeared in a second by jumping upwards with almost light speed.

I blinked. Another wave of realization struck me, this time with added discomfort in my stomach. Of course, I denied it.

'_I am just imagining, I am just imagining.'_

"Mama!" I suddenly shouted and felt her jump a little. "Nin-ja?"

"What?" she looked at me with confusion.

"Ninja?" I repeated myself saying the word clearly.

"Yes, what about them?" she was still a bit puzzled, though smiling.

"Are.. the-re ninja?"

"Of course, there are!" she giggled, saying goodbye to her friend.

This didn't really answer my question, although deep down I had it already answered. I put two and two together. I had seen weird things around here before – people with unusual hair colors, strange shoes/sandals. I had neglected it until now.

My body shivered. I hadn't **really** panicked when I got reborn – I took it quite lightly for such a big thing. Now this was another thing. It was like a dream come true; only I knew dream would not be the word to describe my future life.


	2. Chapter One

**Night Rain**  
Chapter One

For some reason I chose to set this disclosure to the back of my mind and live in an illusion. The only defense, let's call them, measures I took were to emphasize on learning to speak Japanese freely. Even if I could do it, I was still too young, being 1 and a half years old, to reveal my fluency in the language.

It was a slow process I had to go through, putting my patience and nerve-control to a test. Undeniably the reward was worth it and could even go as far as to save my life.

I knew Naruto. I've watched it, read it and have had deep thoughts about it. As far as wishing to be there went, I've only wondered how I'd react to certain events. Maybe I've wished for being part of Konoha 11 or the Rookie 9 but that had been under only one circumstance - I was in Konoha.

Obviously that wasn't the case with me so I didn't feel safe in here. I could think of a lot of places in the narutoverse that could prove fatal for my existence - Kirigakure, Amegakure maybe, during any of the wars.

If there was the slightest chance these ninja were just a nasty trick of my mind, I'd embrace it.

Even if it meant waiting almost two years.

* * *

Two years passed by really slowly and I inquired no new information. I did, however, search the house whenever I got a chance and found no proof my parents were ninja. I have always known my mother wasn't but with the constant absence of my father I had to make sure.

Gradually I came to a consensus with my mind and left my previous life in the past. I didn't really have much of a choice, anyway.

Faking "un"fluency in Japanese wasn't all that hard either. Practice makes perfect and everyone knows you learn a language best when using it.

When I ventured to speak I didn't really do it correctly. I may have sound a bit odd, considering my pronunciation was almost perfect but word order and such were a problem.

Another tricky thing was what exactly to ask to get the information I needed. I couldn't just go straight ahead like "Hey mother, in what kind of world do we live?" It would sound strange coming from the mouth of a three-year-old.

The first thing I had ever asked was accompanied by a knot in my stomach because I had been so damn nervous.

I had postponed it with days, not knowing if I had placed my words right. After some consecutive sleepless nights I had completely given up, deciding it didn't matter. I hadn't been around kids much but I knew they could ask pretty random stuff. Right?

After finally popping the question, which was a simple "Moma, where do we live?" every leftover hope in me shattered to pieces.

She faltered details about our village but one term was all I needed to understand – the Land of Fire.

I suppressed a deep sigh and the urge to burry my head in my arms. The distant belief of being able to return to my family was now gone and it took away a big piece of my heart.

Now that I knew it for sure, I could quietly lie and cry in my room. To point out this wouldn't help me was pointless, as I could grasp it pretty well. These reactions were caused by my survival instinct and I'd need a few days to get over it. You don't get reborn into a **fictional **world everyday after all, can't really blame me.

The less than a week that I spent alone could easily pass as the worst I ever had; even during puberty I was not **that** depressed. Suicidal thoughts ran through my mind and it was sheer fear of the unknown future only that restrained me from it. It was the first time I wished I was more determined. Other crazy thoughts ranged from wishing to have been a bigger fangirl to losing my mind.

Constantly repeating to myself that the Land of Fire was the least threatening place I managed to overcome my fear.

Of course, I scared the crap out of my parents after they caught onto my fake sickness.

When I eventually went back at peace with my brain, I started going out, this time on my own. Ironically, the baby that had been considered a natural outdoor lover really grew up to be one.

There was a vast difference between these two worlds in the manner of raising kids. Back in my world it would be considered irresponsible, even weak-minded, to let your three-year-old kid run around the village unsupervised. It was only logical; in big cities you can literally come across everything – mad drivers, drunkards and drug-addicts, ill-intentioned people and so much more.

Here such things were abnormal; in the small village everyone knew everyone and took care of each other.

How potential shinobi encounters and wars weren't considered dangerous was beyond me.

All it took me to get to know every place in the village was a fortnight. I can't deny it was fun at first but as I reached the borders I had nothing more to do. My mother had warned me to not go beyond them and for now I planned on listening to her.

Something that surprised me was the whole bunch of kids my age. They were all friendly towards me when we had first met and I had returned the gesture albeit not wanting to interact. I'm well ashamed to say, I had thought I was too big for hanging out with brats. Arrogance at its finest.

I learned my lesson after 2-3 **painfully** boring days and a debate with myself about how this could benefit me.

* * *

Weeks later, I was heading out for the regular 'meeting' of my newfound friends. It was a sunny day outside, bright and pleasantly warm.

I was already in the hallway when I glimpsed my passing figure in the big mirror. I went back a few steps to look at myself. The reflection showed a spitting image of my mother, her curly black hair and deep blue eyes only on a younger person. The only thing I'd taken from my father was the round face I didn't quite like. I stared, almost in a trance, admiring my new looks.

A knock on the door and I was brought back to reality.

"Come on, Amaya, I'm waiting for you!" a familiar voice called.

Hurriedly looking away from mirror to avoid another zoning out, I opened the front door and felt the sun grace my skin.

Outside I was greeted with a bright smile. The person emitting so many positive emotions was Dai, a boy with whom I spent most of my time.

As every other kid I knew here, he was my age, although he looked older. Looking back at how we met I felt a little guilty, because it was his hair that got my attention – a Rock Lee type of bowl cut, only Dai's hair was brown. Although our friendship began as a little joke, I soon saw a good friend in him.

Also, I was completely in love with his eyes – a darker shade of raspberry color. Not only were they gorgeous but also hypnotic, pulling everyone's gazes at them.

He blinked, "Stop staring, it's rude," he then frowned, looking at me deadly serious.

"Ah sorry, I didn't know I was so scary," I laughed at his tone, irritating him just a bit more.

After some seconds of almost awkward silence he shrugged and led the way to the playground.

Our 'squad's jam at the moment were games of ninja. Pretty much self-explanatory, these were like the game of tag, but we used materials at hand as ninja tools. Who knew sticks made amazing kunai and leaves paper tags? The game was so likeable because of all the variations it had – scenarios such as attacks, or high-rank missions were the best.

This was probably yet to be the longest game of ninja we have ever played, with around 15 kids. It was obvious each and every one of us wanted to play but we couldn't agree on what exactly.

"What about simple training?" some girl suggested.

"Pointless," a few others snapped back.

"Umm a surprise enemy attack?"

"We did that yesterday and the day before."

It was silent for a few minutes, the desperate looks on our faces outstanding.

"We should do the demon attack!" a boy, I have never actually seen before, said.

All of the kids turned to look at him like he'd said some forbidden spell.

"The demon attack?" I parroted. "What is that?"

14 pairs of eyes stared at me.

"Don't you know?" Ha-ha, you are so stupid," the same boy answered, arousing a trail of laughter.

Only Dai stayed still, his lips forming a little smile as if he didn't know what else to do.

"It is the attack against Konoha. It happened the year we were born. A giant fox appeared out of nowhere and brought chaos for just seconds. It was a punishment that the people of Konoha apparently deserved. They weren't good, that's why Kami sent this demon to them," he explained.

"A punishment, huh? It was just a natural disaster."

"Wait, did you say a fox?" I was so shocked I didn't even listen to what the others were saying. My heart rate rapidly increased.

"Y-yes. Hey, are you alright, Amaya?" Dai looked at me with slight confusion.

"I have to go," I panted and ran away as fast as I could, leaving the poor children completely puzzled.

At home I went straight to my mother and asked her about it. At first she looked confused, then, after processing my weird grammatically-poor question, she sighed and sat with me on the couch.

"From where did you learn that, dear?" she asked, looking mildly concerned.

"The kids said it."

"Ah, I see," she sighed again. "So, it happened months after you were born. A giant fox appeared not far from here – in Konohagakure. No one knows how it happened but it threatened to destroy the village and even the surroundings. We were safe however, because of a brave man, who fought the fox and gave his life."

"Sounds scary," I remarked, just to sound authentic.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Aya," she ruffled my hair. "We are safe here."

Now that I knew where in the timeline I have ended up, I began thinking more rationally. After my primary fit of panic, I found myself no longer biased but **calm**.

It's pretty interesting how my point of view changed, when I learned my life wasn't necessarily threatened. In some sense the desire of living had returned in me.

I felt adventurous and decided I'd take up reading and make use of the big stack of books we had laying around; see if there's something about chakra. It came as one of those crazy ideas, which make no more sense after you wake up. However, my interest didn't die down.

* * *

As one of many parents in the village and a part of a raising competition between families, my mother was delighted to hear I wanted to read.

If I could pass as an example, the average age for starting to read was 6, so I was ahead of my own self with 3 years. Judging by the way my mom bragged to her friends about her smart daughter, it wasn't very common in this universe as well.

She was more than eager to help me, which was both a benefit and a hindrance. After hours on end of explaining the kanji and kana, she'd get impatient, because I couldn't grasp a thing. It took three or four of these lessons and her excitement died down drastically. I had to resort to self-teaching at some point when she couldn't explain well enough to be understandable. I don't blame her, though, I was her first child and both she and father looked pretty young. They couldn't have had much experience with children. (Not like I was a normal 3-year-old but that's another topic)

They better learn quickly, though, before I (re-)enter puberty.

The children's books we had at home, in which the symbols were explained to me, were still difficult and I struggled with months. I had never expected the Japanese's alphabet to be that complicated. As a non-native, who had been raised with Cyrillic and Latin, my brain couldn't adapt to this form of writing.

What kept me going this whole time was pure curiosity.

There were a ton of questions I sought an answer of. I had been reborn with my old memories and knowledge but did I have the biological structure of the people here? Did I possess chakra and could I use it?

This particular question bothered me a lot. I had been and still was an impatient person and the waiting was driving me crazy. Every spare moment I thought about it, my desire to find out grew bigger and stronger.

Before I knew it, I was daydreaming about becoming a ninja.

* * *

A little after my 4th birthday I started my first chakra book. How much I understood from it was questionable, although an effect was evident; a feel underneath my skin that was unusual, a slight tingle.

I found out chakra could be simplified and roughly compared to muscles; untrained muscles can still preform simple tasks such as lifting your hand or moving your leg but the more you train them the more evident they get and the more you can do with them. With each and every step the training process gets harder and slower until you reach your physical limit. Brave and, dare I say, stupid enough people push pass their limits using chemicals and non-organic substances to acquire a temporary effect at the price of their future health.

The possibilities of breaking the limit of your own body and chakra were not much, ranging from drinking the rare Hero Water to opening the Eight Gates with the chance of both proving fatal.

However with chakra, unlike muscles, you are supposed to train both your physical and spiritual energy.

Of course, I was nowhere near this complex training system, having not yet succeeded to stick a leaf to my hand.

That's why when I finally made it, I was so excited that I blabbed it out in front of Dai. Much to my amusement the kid was eager to learn more about his own chakra and insisted on me teaching him. It began as a one-time thing but soon it became a routine to train with him.

As for the other kids - I tried to stay away from them. Even in the body of a little girl, I was a teenager in mind and couldn't really stand their attitude. (Dai was a big exception, since he was mature for his age.)

Apart from how annoying they were there was another reason for my distancing. Kids were often a little weird back in my world, which was even considered cute, but here they could be straight off creeps.

An orphaned girl, named Kamiko Nagao, had showed up out of the blue, melting hearts here and there with her 'devastating' story. With her unnatural composure, faked smile and questionable past she was a little too Orochimaru for my tastes so I didn't dare get close to her. The others didn't seem to see anything suspicious in her, which I ascribed to their lack of knowledge of the pedo-snake.

* * *

"Wow, you are quite impressive," I exclaimed, while watching Dai pull off something I yet couldn't do, on his second attempt.

"Just don't get jealous, would you?" he giggled, moving one step up the tree he was climbing. "Wanna see if I can get to the top?"

I nodded.

He proceeded almost 2 more meters up, shaking slightly with every step. He was deeply concentrated until only a meter or so separated him from the top; then he relaxed, almost instantly interrupting the flow of chakra. With the loss of his support he flew down, letting out a strange sound between a growl and a sigh.

"DAI!" I screamed concerned that he would seriously hurt himself.

In the few seconds he had before the inevitable collision he managed to slow his fall and landed with a big thump, but no serious injuries, in the grass. I ran to him and helped him stand up.

"You alright?" I asked, glancing at the cuts on his hands.

"Yes, don't worry. Only a bruise," he smiled and dusted himself off.

I let out a sigh of relief and smiled back.

"Let's go home. It's enough for today."

* * *

The night was lit by the full moon and the stars, shining brightly over the village, complimenting the ever so beautiful landscape. The wind brought a chilling vibe to the otherwise boiling hot summer, calling for a deserved rest after the long day.

Dai and I were still walking, enjoying the long route home. We walked without saying a word, both of us sunk deep in thought.

"So, what are you planning to do?" he asked disrupting the silence.

"What do you mean?" I turned my head to face him. Our eyes met.

"You want to become a ninja, right?"

The question stopped me dead in my tracks.

'_Is this how it looks like?' _

While I had still watched Naruto in front of my computer screen, I'd always wondered if it'd be cool to be a ninja. When I had been younger I'd wished for it. I couldn't lie to myself, saying I didn't want, because deep down, where the burden and the reality of being a kunoichi could be overlooked, I did.

"Amaya?"

"Urr yes," I cleared my mind. "I-I don't really know. Do you?"

Dai scratched his chin, looking thoughtfully at the sky.

"Of course I do!" he grinned widely. "But even if we do want… There are no shinobi in our village so we can't become one of them."

"Konoha is not far away, there we can join the Academy," I almost slapped myself after realizing I had slipped.

"Do you think my mom and dad will agree? I should ask them!"

"No!" I shouted. "I mean..uh.. your parents will let you if mine let me. Leave that to me, okay?"

"Okay," he rested his hands behind his head and continued down the path.

'_Phew, that was close,'_ I sighed and followed.


	3. Chapter Two

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Two

People are often scared of the dark, everyone with his own reasons. When I was a kid I hated to sleep in my room - it meant to be alone during the whole night. Looking back, I wasn't scared of monsters under my bed, I was scared of people hiding in the shadows. Excluding my parents' reassurance there were no such things, I alone knew it was nearly impossible that to happen.

In the Narutoverse it was completely normal.

Even so, I found the night and its darkness calming. Only during this dark part of the day I could concentrate and think about my future actions, because I was **alone**.

The lack of sleep was a problem sometimes. I could pull an all-nighter if I didn't have any particular plans for the next day and could afford a few naps but on regular basis I evaded it.

After the events of today however, I knew I wasn't getting any sleep.

'_Do I want to be a ninja?'_

If were to answer this question fast and spontaneous, I'd go for a straightforward "yes" followed by laugh. You are asking me if I want to be a badass fighter, who can produce the elements with only his hands, of course I will want.

Other than common sense, the thing stopping me from clinging to the idea was my second chance at life. I had been **reborn **\- life was too precious for me to use it recklessly and to be basically signing my death wish. I wasn't stupid either, as a being from an entirely different world, I was in no way suited for this job, even if I could use chakra.

My eyes watered and I pulled the blanket over my head.

'_Why should it be so hard?' _I questioned as tears fell down my cheeks.

I couldn't even decide which pair of shoes I wanted let alone make a one of a life-time decision. I needed more time to think, more experience in this world and definitely more courage.

Yes, that was going to be it – I'd wait. I knew the plot; I was pretty much safe for 7 more years.

* * *

"So, did you ask your parents?" Dai asked enthusiastically instead of properly greeting me. Upon hearing my answer, however, his excitement died down.

"Not yet," I repeated the stock phrase I came up with last night in my mind. "Before involving our parents we have to improve our abilities so that if they agree we can go straight to the Academy."

Dai looked blankly at me but didn't argue, "Seems logical."

Smiling, I nodded, before he could sink in thought, "Let's train now."

"Fine but no tree walking," he glanced at his bandaged hands and I felt slightly guilty; I could've stopped him earlier.

* * *

The years slipped by as Dai and I fell into a routine. The training that had begun as a joke grew into some serious exercise for both our stamina and chakra.

Doing everything on our own, without the help of a superior was hard, having in mind we didn't know how to perform the most techniques. It wasn't that big of a hindrance since everything was written down in the books but it often left us pissed off; we wouldn't seek the fault in ourselves when we couldn't pull of a technique so we imputed it to the lack of a teacher.

The one thing that seriously bothered me about it was how angry I could become at those times. Dai was calm and patient and I was his complete opposite. Moreover, it happened more and more often, with people, not only jutsu, and I was barely able to tame it down.

Today it wasn't a person that had gotten on my nerves. It was the Rope Escape Technique. When I had seen it in one of the books I had instantly remembered Sasuke using it. So I had politely asked Dai to tie me with a rope from excitement to try it. Today, I was **this **close to untie myself and managed to screw it up thanks to my sloppiness.

As a precaution, I went out of the house and took a walk around the village.

As I still tried to calm myself down, my mind wandered to the last time I had gotten so worked up.

My strange choice in literature mixed with the occasional bruises and cuts I received had led to the inevitable talk with my parents. I had postponed it with years, relying only on sheer luck when it came to Dai asking me about it. (He had probably long ago caught on, judging by his maturity, but kept silent.)

It had begun like every other evening and had transformed into a disaster.

_"I knew it'd come to this!" _

Father had suddenly raised his voice upon hearing my question. He hadn't even left my mother speak; only shouted at me.

_"You are not in any way cut to be a ninja! You are a soon-to-be woman of this village and you are supposed to raise your children and look after your home not recklessly risk your life for any of the Five so-called Great Nations!"_

To be honest I hadn't understood him then and couldn't up to this very date. I knew my father as a calm, well-stocked person. That had been the first and so far last time I'd ever seen him shout. But the wounds of what he said that day were still not healed; my dignity as a woman had been irreversibly trampled on.

Mostly it put me down, smashed all the efforts I made and the little confidence I built with years to pieces for a split second. I loved my father but this little moment had changed my perspective of him.

My parents' reaction was somewhat expected yet they could show some more understandment towards their own daughter's wish. It was the first time I felt somehow misjudged in this world; my father comparing me to a housewoman reminded me too much of the problems of the developing countries and I sure as hell didn't want to endure them.

For a moment it crossed my mind I could become a feminist but I quickly dismissed it. It was pointless to get so worked up for something I wasn't even sure in.

Sensing the new rising anger, I concentrated on my surroundings. I passed by the stall of my mom's friend, greeting her with a smile, although my mood was far from happy.

There weren't many people outside at this time of the day and I could freely walk around without being distracted. I didn't have a particular place I wanted to go to but I sincerely felt like running in the woods. I knew it was dangerous and reckless but I didn't care now.

Partly unconsciously and partly intentionally I headed in that direction.

I wasn't even this far away from the border when a familiar girl approached me. I was mildly surprised and didn't bother to hide it.

"Kamiko."

"Hey Aya!" she greeted with forced enthusiasm. "What are you doing all alone?"

"I am just walking around," I hurried to answer, swallowing my irritation from the use of my little name. "And I have to go."

"So fast? Come on, I haven't talked to you in years! It makes me think you don't like me," she took my hand. "Look, I have to talk to you."

I cringed at the sudden contact. Her stone cold hand, despite the sweltering heat, send a wave of seriousness down my spine I couldn't shoo away. She started dragging me and I couldn't find the strength to struggle; not that I wanted to. I sensed something rather mysterious in her.

She led me to the place where we used to play. For 4 years all the kids had outgrown the stupid games, leaving the lawn abandoned. Smaller kids were also nowhere to be seen, which I thought was some strange coincidence.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"It's remote and calm, no one will interrupt us," she pulled this almost sadistic grin. If I didn't believe she was just a brat, I'd thought she was going to commit a ritual murder. "You are different than the others. I can sense it."

"Different? In what way?" I raised a brow to hide my suddenly growing nervousness.

"I can't tell. You have something that the others don't."

If you ever wondered what it looked like to have a terrifyingly serious conversation with an 8-year-old – this was a spot-on example.

"In this line of thinking, you are not quite normal either," I tried to change the topic since having it resolve around me was too nerve-racking. "Why did you come here? What do you want?"

I found myself falling into an improvised fighting stance.

"Nothing," she put on a fake smile once again and looked straight into my eyes. A wave of nausea hit me so bad I had to close them. It dispersed quite fast and I Iooked straight back at her. "I have to go now. Thanks for the chat."

She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I blinked. My mind was blurry, cutting off my attempts to concentrate with sharp pain. I rubbed my temples but the confusion wouldn't go away. With each passing second the memories of the past minutes were erased until nothing was left from the meeting with Kamiko.

* * *

I couldn't really remember when puberty starts but I felt it was coming fast.

Not only was I changing drastically, appearance-wise, but I began looking at Dai a bit **differently**. Now, maybe that wasn't a thing of mine hormones but his, since he was the one turning into a handsome man. He had lost his bowl cut years ago and now had almost shoulder length hair. It was the typical anime-like spiky but nothing too drastic. His eyes were the same exquisite raspberry color, in which I always found a way to get lost. His features were getting manlier with every day.

Being close to puberty, I noticed that I enjoyed his company a little too much. It wasn't uncontrollable yet. After all I **was** practically older than him and wouldn't let myself to crush on a boy.

I was changing rather fast as well. My hair was reaching below my breasts, or where they were expected to be, and was still curly and deep black. My eyes got a slightly more ellipse form and my face, well it was still round.

* * *

The day started off like every other. The sun was shining, birds were singing, the people were going out to work. It was a beautiful picture.

A beautiful picture that got destroyed in mere seconds.

A grumbling noise came from the ground. Looking around to see what was happening, I didn't have time to react when it came crushing below me.

The last thing I heard was a horrific roar.

A mass of crumbled pieces buried me.

At first, I panicked. Obviously, I had never experienced something like this before. I began to madly move my hands, trying to climb my way up to the surface. This disoriented me and also resulted in some cuts and bruises, which further terrified me.

I choked, gasping for air. Everything was muggy. For the first time in both my lives I was claustrophobic. It felt like the darkness will swallow my whole being, not just my body but my mind as well.

It was hard to breathe - lack of oxygen.

My gaze fixated on one particular spot.

'_I didn't live much of a peaceful civilian life after all'._

* * *

I opened my eyes to a dark space.

'_Was it just a dream?'_

I took a deep breath just to inhale dirt.

My eyes widened, I tried to stand up and hit my head in a rock with a bang. The world spun for a second before I felt a cold stream of blood running down my face. My head throbbed in rhythm with my heart. I gulped hardly, feeling a ball stuck in my throat. Panic was once again rushing through my veins.

'_Come on, concentrate!' _

I had to keep my calm and find my way out. I was definitely not dying like that.

I looked around for any light. I found out that moving led to sharp pain all around my body. Gritting my teeth, I tried pushing random rocks. Most of them were heavy and unmanageable but I succeeded with a few smaller ones.

A ray of sunlight broke in.

I swear I could feel it's warmth on the patch of skin it covered. This somehow gave me the willpower to continue. In these harsh situations every little thing could be beneficial.

I kept attempting to push the rocks but my muscle mass was not at all enough.

'_Of course, I will need strength to live. Why not intellect? No, it will be the same.' _I silently laughed at my own lame joke.

Why should it be so hard? It didn't look hard when I watched the anime from the couch at home.

At that moment I wished I was Sakura. Having her monstrous strength could have come in handy. But I was not her, I was a normal human being not adjusted for such conditions.

It took me a few more seconds to realize it. I wasn't so normal anymore – I had chakra.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on moving it to my hands. It was easy until I needed to maneuver it down from my shoulder. I began to lose the feel of it, which made it that much harder. At some point, I was frowning so hard the pain in my head intensified.

After finally moving it to the wanted spot and without wasting time I hit the rock above me. Much to my surprise it flew high in the air, some little pieces shedding off it due to the impact.

Blinding light burst into the hole, forcing me to close my eyes.

"AMAYA!" A very familiar voice called for me.

I reopened my eyes to see slightly dirty brown locks and a pair of big raspberry eyes.

"Dai!" I responded, delighted to see him.

He helped me climb back to the surface. After making sure my life wasn't endangered, he gave me the tightest hug possible. One of those thank-God-I-was-scared-to-death hugs. I felt every little bruise protesting against it but stubbornly ignored it.

I had time to look around once we broke the hug.

To my terror, there was no more a village. Everything laid in ruins levelled to the ground. A few other people were out with expressions I will never forget. On their faces had remained a small hint of surprise from the unexpected attack, but the main thing was fear. Fear of having lost their loved ones. Cries of despair echoed in the distance and the air was filled with the smell of death.

When I looked closer, I saw and the other part of the picture.

Bodies. Blood. Children, adults and elders were buried in a coffin of earth mass and concrete. Their eyes were still open; one could still spot the hope of survival in them.

I froze. My breakfast stirred nervously in my stomach, fighting its way out. I chocked but didn't let it out.

Dai put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "It's alright."

But it wasn't.

I pretty much spent 8 years living with the thought of all the cruel stuff happening in the Narutoverse. I knew it, I had seen it on my screen and yet I wasn't ready for it. What was in front of me was absolutely real. Real people, that I knew, were dead, real families were destroyed. If had Sasuke felt this way during the massacre then I completely understood his motives. A view like this could scar everyone's sanity.

"Mom and dad!" I abruptly moved to free myself from Dai's grip and immediately hissed in pain.

"No-no," he calmed me down. "Take it easy. I heard they sent help from Konoha. Squads should be coming soon."

"I need to find them, they are out there," I was falling in a state of hysteria.

"Okay, we are going to look for them. **Together**," he emphasized on the last part.

We slowly made our way through the ruins to where my house had been.

I didn't utter a sound during that time. I'm not even sure I was still spiritually in this world or if I was consumed by my thoughts. Dai was trying to make it less awkward or maybe compensate for my silence and didn't close his mouth. I suppose he had gone a bit crazy as well. I didn't pay him attention but I overheard that his parents were currently helping the ones in need. Since their house was situated at the outskirts of the village, it hadn't suffered damage.

After an eternity of walking, we finally reached the left-overs of my house.

"Mom!" I yelled several times with all the voice I could find in me. We started looking around for any sign of life. "Mom!" I kept yelling.

My eyes watered; I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Aya!" The voice was faint, almost sounding as if it was all in my head.

It was Dai who pushed me towards the source. There under one big chunk of concrete, laid my mother. She smiled when she saw I was in one piece but I could see the pain behind it.

"MOM!" Actual tears ran down my cheeks at the sight of her. It were tears of relief that another one of my close people was alright. "Hold a little more, we will get you out of there."

I knew I couldn't move such a massive piece. I didn't have enough chakra nor physical power left.

"How are we doing this?" Dai asked.

"Use your chakra to push it. That's how I got out," he gave me a skeptic look. "Concentrate it in your palm. Trust me."

He stared a bit more before finally deciding it was worth a try. As I watched him grimace in concentration, I knew that he wouldn't fail. I didn't have enough experience to compare but I had a very good guess that he was amazing at chakra control.

The thing looked feather-like when he moved it with ease. I was going to make a smart comment when someone interrupted me.

"This is impressive for a civilian," The voice was distantly familiar, though I couldn't link it anyone.

I turned my head and saw my first ever canon character. A bowl haircut, like Dai's old hair, a green jumpsuit and bushy brows. Ladies and Gentlemen – Maito Gai.

He stood there in his trademark pose. It was kind of ridiculous that he was the first character I saw.

"Here, let me help," he went to my mother and picked her up bridal style. "Come on kiddos, release the power of your youth and let's go to the medics. They are nearby."

"He is weird," Dai whispered to me.

"Nah, I find him cool."

"Shinobi-san, I need to know if my husband is alright."

My father was at work, just as every other normal day. I internally hoped that he was alright and that I would find him here searching for me and mom.

"Working at the workshop I assume?"

"Yes," my mother answered silently.

"Our unit is searching the place right now. I guarantee you will be informed as soon as we know something.

* * *

One fascinating thing for any foreigner to this world was the power of medical ninjutsu - chakra-enhanced green light that magically healed deep cuts, wounds and broken bones with precision so good it left no scars. Of course, it depended on how well trained the medical-nins were, on their chakra control and intelligence.

In one book I'd read that medical ninjutsu was one of the hardest techniques to learn, which stood in contrast with the impression I got from the anime, where every second kunoichi could use it. Now that I knew for myself that chakra manipulation wasn't easy I was prone to believe it.

The medics Konoha had sent weren't a lot and I didn't remember seeing them. They were mostly women left in the tent, since the men were out to help and rescue.

I watched as they patched up people I've greeted in the morning from my seat. My gaze was blank, my brain still not fully conscious of the past occurrence. Next to me my mother kept biting her lower lip – a habit I knew she had when worried.

My own heart started beating faster when I saw Gai enter. Upon noticing us, he headed our way.

"Hoshino-san, I have news for your husband," he had a grim expression, which didn't bode anything good. "Unfortunately, there were no found survivors at the workshop."


	4. Chapter Three

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Three

"What?" My mother breathed out. "No, this can't be."

"Im so sorry, madam," Even Gai had lost the sparkle in his eyes. After a long silent moment he subtly cleared his throat. "I hate to say this but we will need your cooperation for identifying the bodies."

She managed a small nod and burst out in cries. Gai gave us a weak smile and patted me on the shoulder before he left.

Opposed to my mother's shaking and sobbing, I remained still and silent.

I thought back to the picture that was outside.

The aftermath of mass destruction had been evident all the way to the borders. It looked like someone had hit the earth from under the ground.

"This is such a natural disaster," I overheard someone saying.

For me it was now evident it was a deliberate attack. I'd watched too many movies to know that natural disasters don't end with the village; someone had planned this all along. Furrowing my brows, I searched for a certain person but in the crowd I wasn't able to spot her.

'_Does she have something to do with this?'_

I hissed unintentionally as the anger in me rose. My world suddenly crumbled to pieces; too literally for my tastes. The painful realization that I lived in a lie this 8 years hit me hard. Silly me, I have actually believed I was **safe** in this damn village. I have succumbed to the idea I could survive in the **Narutoverse**.

Clenching my fists, I left the fury overwhelm me. I've tried to control it before; now it was pointless.

Somehow I have ended up in here. I didn't want it, I've never wished for it but regardless I was reborn here. I was detached from my real parents, from my friends, from my life. And once here there was no way back. I got a new body, new parents, new friends, new life. And although I accepted it as who I am now, deep inside I was still that girl from the 'real world'. Whatever I did, that part from me would never accept the new reality. For it, it was all a long dream I would eventually wake up from. It was, let's call it, the dark in me – in Amaya. One would think it goes away with time. It does. With every passing year I felt it get smaller and smaller. And it all shattered to pieces when this tragedy happened.

Now my father was dead. Like it or not, he **was** my biological father in some odd sense. In the mixture of emotions that I had inside me, I knew I had love stored for him. Other than this one occasion he never gave me a reason to hate him. He was kind and caring; he had always been. 8 years was a long time, even longer when you live them for a second time. During those years I've seen him every single day and whether I wanted it or not I grew emotionally attached to him.

And yet right now I felt nothing.

I couldn't cry because of the dark, that had taken control over my being and as for it he was not a parent to me, I was indifferent. It was furious. Someone dared to disturb its sleep in the back of my mind and he was going to pay dearly for that.

At this exact moment the decision, to which I hadn't been able to find an answer, to become a ninja or not, looked so **simple**.

"Amaya!" A distant call reached me.

I was forced out of my musing. My sight focused the worried faces of Dai and his father staring at me.

"What happened?" I asked as I sat up. Strange, I didn't remember lying down in the first place.

"As soon as we heard the news we came back to find you," Dai's father explained. "When we arrived you had already passed out."

"Pass out? I don't…" I looked around, noticing the setting had changed.

'_How long have I been out?' _

I saw my mother still crying at the bench next to us. Dai's mother was holding her in a hug, probably trying to calm her down. When she looked our way she immediately ran to me.

"Aya! Oh my God, don't you dare scare me like that again!" she hugged me tightly and sniffled.

I patted her back to show I was there for her.

'_My father…'_

A single tear rolled down my cheek.

* * *

At some point the available medics gathered the frightening few survivors out of the tent.

Outside, Asuma Sarutobi finished a cigarette.

"Is everyone here?" he asked loud enough to be heard.

"Everyone that is in condition to move," one of the nurses answered.

"That's good," he cleared his throat.

I took my time to look closely at him in the dim light of the twilight. Asuma had never been one I paid much attention to until he had died, when I had cried my eyes out. Needless to say, it was interesting to see him real.

"Due to the unfortunate circumstances that have befallen this village, I would like to inform you that Konohagakure will be contended to welcome you there."

A murmuring aroused from the crowd.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Are you asking us to leave the village you deliberately put us in?"

"So, the village is not being rebuilt?"

"Why so courteous?"

These were one of the many I could hear.

Asuma looked a bit taken aback by this reactions and turned to Gai, who was standing next to him. They whispered something and with a nod the Sarutobi looked back at the crowd.

"Konohagakure is taking full responsibility about what has happened," Everyone shut up at this sudden statement and turned their full attention back to him. "I'm afraid your village won't be rebuilt. This territory is no longer safe for civilians."

I raised a brow at this strange behavior. What was Konoha gaining from this? Were they really responsible? And if they were why not repair the damage? I couldn't come up with answers for all the questions but I was sure that wasn't the entire truth.

My mother looked confused as well.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" I asked innocently.

The situation was strange and the motives questionable, yes, but it was a chance to go to **Konoha**.

Although I had calmed down after my initial anger burst, I was still quite determined to ride along the ninja journey. The fear of losing my life (again) had apparently unlocked some sensible amount of bravery in me and I was eager to get it done. Also, I had never been patient.

She seemed to be very deep in thought. I couldn't blame her; what she endured today was terrifying. Her face was swollen, the redness left from the endless crying noticeable even in the dark.

She rested her head in her hands and let out a deep sigh, "I guess we will do as they say."

A slight tingle in my stomach signified my anxiety.

* * *

After a limit of 30 minutes we had been given to pack some things had passed, in which we didn't really retrieve much, we were ordered to line up and wait for further instructions.

Dai's parents had been thinking about staying here and almost made my mother rethink her decision, much to my terror. It had taken both Dai's and mine manipulation to convince them.

Also, this time around I didn't fail to see Kamiko. She was trailing along with our group with a face that had to resemble fear but was a pure grimace.

We were going to travel the whole night to reach Konoha at dawn. Measured as a straight line the distance wasn't big but since there was a mountain separating the villages we had to pass round, it took half a day. Another thing slowing us down was the immobility of most of the villagers. They had various injuries, some bad, some worse, to the point they couldn't walk.

* * *

We stopped multiple times to rest and still I felt absolutely miserable. Every muscle in my body throbbed and I could particularly see myself not being able to move for days.

The weak light of the moon gave the surroundings a sinister note and the wind was whistling an eerie tune. It looked more like we were going to the depths of hell rather than to the most humane village of the Five Great Nations.

With the loom of the sun everything changed.

Finally crossing to the other side of the mountain we stopped for a break. The reddish light of the dawn shone in the sky, giving us all the chills. I looked up at the sky, towards the mountain where it reflected. My blood instantly froze as I saw four stone faces carved into it.

The Hokage Monument.

I gaped in awe as I realized I had been living just behind it for 8 years. It looked so majestic. It was really incredible to be able to see this anime landmark being real.

With a smile on my face I looked at the distant dot that was Konohagakure. After all I ended up here.

* * *

The arrival in Konoha was pretty formal much to my surprise. Not only were we greeted at the very entrance but it was the Hokage himself who did it. Well sort of.

After a double check from the shinobi on post at the gate we were allowed to pass. We were led a few meters ahead where two other shinobi guarded the Sandaime. One of them was Genma, who I had met almost 7 years ago. It sure brought back memories, mostly of me being mortified of the situation. Ah good old times of confusion and denial.

Sarutobi dismissed all shinobi of our group and left only Gai and Asuma. They gave him a scroll, containing details about the mission, I guessed, and he nodded in approval.

"I wanted to welcome you all personally in Konohagakure and also express my sincere apologies," he started, after exhaling a ball of smoke from his pipe. "I would be contented if you grow to feel this village as your home again. Everything of first importance you may need will be provided," he exhaled more smoke and coughed. "Now, if you'd excuse me I have to be heading back to my office. Gai and Asuma here will escort you to your new homes."

As we were once again led to somewhere I noted that Konoha was a lot bigger than it seemed in the anime. My inner fangirl was having a moment and distracted my concerns.

Gai and Asuma left us in a neighborhood, in front of two 4 story buildings. Each family was given keys and after making sure no one needed help the two jonin took off.

Mom's and my flat was in the second block of flats on the second floor and above Dai's apartment. Inside the flats were pretty simple, furnished with just the essentials. The front door led into the living room which was also a kitchen. From there another door revealed a hallway, two rooms on each side and one in the very end. The side ones were the two small bedrooms and the last the bathroom. It wasn't anything impressive, not compared to the house we lived in before.

I chose the right room, because it had these amazing big windows. I bet the night sky was going to look amazing through them. The other furniture didn't differ from the other bedroom; there was a big bed, a wooden desk, a wardrobe with a full sized mirror and a bookshelf. Simple and convenient.

I looked at the reflection in the mirror and was a bit taken aback when one poor looking kid looked back at me. Its face was dirty with one nasty cut above the right eyebrow. The raven hair was messy and tangled, its normal perfect curls deformed and sticking in every direction. Its clothes were ripped and stained with blood and God-knows what else.

I patted my cheek to make sure it was really me. I was a huge mess with a desperate need for a shower.

* * *

Buying clothes had been my excuse to persuade Dai to go around with me. (Other than the fact I really needed them) We had been given money as compensation for the lost properties and we were out to spend them. That and the curiosity from being in one of the Five Great Nations.

For Dai it was pure amazement – seeing the bigger world. For me on the other hand, it was something like a dream come true. Walking along the streets of Konoha – one of the most famous places in anime.

So far we had gone through a lot of shops and were finished stocking. I hadn't seen any canon characters except for some jonin I couldn't name. It was still hard to grasp how big the village was.

I was making a mental challenge to get to know every pebble in here as well when I smelled something delicious. I didn't know what it was but man it was dragging me and Dai by the nose. We hadn't had much food since yesterday and our stomachs were both rumbling.

We followed the scent a bit further until we found ourselves in front of a little food shop with white curtain-like things.

I didn't need to read the name to know exactly what it was.

With a bright smile on my face, I grabbed Dai's hand and pulled him in. My heart skipped a beat as I realized I could've seen one certain blond but he was absent so yeah, unlucky I guess.

It was empty and we chose the most remote seats at the very left of the bar.

The shopkeeper came from the kitchen and smiled at us. "Welcome to Ichiraku ramen! I haven't seen you before. Travelers?"

"Just arrived here this morning," I answered and looked around for a menu. I had never in my life tried ramen and didn't really know what to order.

"Then you came to the right place," he exclaimed then saw my confused looks. "Let me serve you what we sell best."

Dai and I both nodded, in unison with our starving stomachs. The man disappeared, leaving us alone again.

"Ironic."

"What?" I raised a brow at Dai.

"Remember a few years ago when you said we could join the Academy? Fate brought us here."

"Do you really believe in fate?" I snickered though I wasn't the one to speak. "Though, there is something about it."

Maybe fate was really giving us signs. Why throw me in all this shit for no reason? Maybe I was reborn here with an important task and fate was just helping me to get to work. I was 8 now and I knew Academy starts at 5 or 6 so I'd missed my chance. Was I even meant to be a ninja? My role is to probably bring peace without force or violence. Yeah, that's it, fate doesn't want me to become a ninja but still I need to be close to the main characters so thus Konoha.

"You know, we should try for the Academy!"

Who am I kidding, I don't believe in fate. I got stuck in the shinobi world and I'm going to make the best of it. So why not have some fun?

"Made you decision, ne?" he laughed and looked up in thought.

"Well I didn't do so much training for nothing," I replied, laughing as well.

I had always wondered what Dai's motives were. Unlike me, he didn't know much about shinobi life, the details in particular. And most certainly, he didn't do it because he was a huge fan. Was it in people's blood in here or was it similar to us wanting to become policemen and firefighters as kids? A mystery I wanted to solve.

I poked him on the shoulder to attract his attention, "Earth to Dai, hello?"

He snapped out of it and looked at me with his raspberry eyes, "I don't know. It feels strange to do it for real."

Sighing, I looked away. Couldn't blame him for that but without him I wouldn't have the courage to go to the Academy.

"You know-" I started but Teuchi arrived with our orders.

He placed the bowls of steaming goodness in front of us and wished us a nice meal.

"Oh and also," he added. "I kind of overheard your conversation. If you want to become a ninja Konoha is the best place and I say it not because it's my home but because it's true."

"Yeah, the other villages are pretty rough with their students," I showed my knowledge of the topic, proudly shaking my head.

"Right," Teuchi nodded. "Don't be afraid to try and who knows – you may become our next heroes."

"Thank you," I smiled back at the old man.

The rest of our meal was silent, both of us enjoying it at a max. I swear to God this was the best thing I'd eaten so far in this world. We paid, thanked again and left.

* * *

It was late pass lunch time and the sun was burning in the sky. We were planning to continue our reconnaissance mission but a sudden hindrance occurred.

It was walking straight towards us with a fake friendly smile.


	5. Chapter Four

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Four

"Hi Dai, Aya!" Kamiko yelled a few feet away from us.

"We still have a chance to run," I whispered to Dai, half serious.

"Nah."

"So what are you up to?" she asked once stopping next to us.

"Actually, I was just heading home! See you tomorrow, Amaya!"

I watched shocked as Dai ran off. What the hell was he thinking?! How dare he? Like, I will remember that forever, my friend.

"Wanna come look around the village with me?" she had her big eyes on me.

I examined her thoughtfully. Her purple hair was falling loosely over her shoulders. She wore an all-black dress, which reminded me of the ones I had seen for funerals. Really, now that I think of it, she had always been dressed in black. The only outstanding piece of her outfit was a bandage wrapped around her left upper-arm. It looked old and scruffy. She basically looked strange in every way possible.

"I- I have to go as well,"

A sense of deja vu overwhelmed me. It felt like I'd already had this conversation.

"Please," she came closer.

"No," I turned around to walk away but a hand forcefully pulled me back. My eyes met with Kamiko's for one brief moment and I felt dizzy. The world spun and the voices around us faded away. It lasted just so long and I regained focus. "Okay."

She grinned widely, almost insanely, and started dragging me to somewhere.

* * *

Twilight was at its end with a full moon rising in the sky. The wind was making itself noticed by bringing a chill in the ardor. The sun was setting behind the Hokage mountain, illuminating the faces of the four heroes in a warm orangey tone. Kamiko and I had stopped, seemingly lost. It looked like we were already in the outskirts of the village.

"How are we going to get back?" her voice trembled as if she was scared of the situation. "I don't know where we are."

"Neither do I."

A sudden whiff of cold-stone wind cut through the air. Kamiko turned towards me with an evident smirk.

"I'm sure you can find your way back. You are a smart girl, ne?"

With those words she vanished, leaving me alone.

For seconds I just stayed there paralyzed. Then, as another strong blow of the wind froze my blood, I forgot about my meeting with Kamiko. I looked around the place, shocked and questioning how I ended up here.

I continued down the path ignoring any common sense. There were no people outside and the buildings looked empty as well. After around 10 minutes of walking, enough time for the night to settle in, I came to a large arc-like thing. Thanks to the strong light of the full moon I distinguished the crest imbedded on top of it.

A red and white symbol resembling a fan - or more commonly known as the **Uchiha** clan crest.

I stared at it taking the time to realize I was situated in front of the Uchiha compound. A satisfied smile appeared on my face. I rushed in, eager to see the famous clan before the massacre.

The streets were suspiciously empty and silent. The lights in the houses were also off. I kept walking further into the place, wondering if I'd get in trouble.

Yes. Yes, I would.

The first sign to something wrong was the splattered blood. Here and there, fading away in the shadows.

The next was a few silhouettes of people. Getting a bit frightened, I approached them. When I got close enough I saw their wide open eyes. They stared at me, straight through me, and fell lifelessly on the ground in a puddle of their own blood.

My heart rate increased, my breathing became heavy. Trembling, I turned my head to the left and right, eyes filled with terror as I saw they weren't the only dead around. The whole compound was a ghost town.

"Who are you?" A voice came from behind me, successfully bringing my heart to the verge of suicide. "What are you doing here?"

My body turned around on its own revealing the person standing there to my brain.

'_Shit.'_

Anbu gear, sword in hand, long raven hair in a low ponytail and bloody Mangekyo Shraingan. Itachi Uchiha – no, Itachi Uchiha assassinating the goddamn Uchiha clan.

Millions of thoughts ran in my head as I stared at him. Was he going to kill me? Put me through the Tsukiyomi? Erase my memories? Worse, see in my memories – then he'd fucking cancel his mission and bring me straight in the interrogation center, where I'll be tortured to death.

I wanted to do something, to move, but my body didn't respond.

Itachi raised the hand with his sword, his perfect poker face not revealing much of his intentions.

I tried to step back but my legs tangled up and I feel butt first on the ground. "Please…" I heard myself pleading, my voice barely hearable.

He pointed the sword at me and I closed my eyes in attempt to ease the pain this hit would cause.

A second passed.

Another one.

And another.

Nothing.

Slowly I reopened my eyes and saw him still standing before me. His sword was put back in its sheath.

"Get out of here," he warned. "And if you say one bit of what you saw here I'll come back for you."

I nodded, getting up. My legs were shaking so much, I could barely stand but adrenaline moved me. I ran, as fast as I could to home, somehow knowing in which direction to go.

As I ran I saw a glimpse of a boy my age running in the opposite direction. I heard him stop and sensed his still innocent eyes on me; I couldn't care less for him. I had my own problems and he would soon have his as well.

I ran, leaving Sasuke Uchiha to his fate.

* * *

I stormed through the front door, pass the living room and in my room. Slamming the door I collapsed on the ground and tears formed in my eyes. Maybe they were because I was mortified or glad to be alive, I didn't know. My breathing was still irregular thanks to my sprint.

'_Holy shit.' _

With adrenaline still pumped high, I couldn't quite comprehend the whole picture. I knew what had happened, what I had witnessed and still it was a mess in my head.

'_The massacre! I survived the massacre!'_

'_I also saw Itachi. A real freaking Itachi. He even spoke to me!'_

'_Did I jeopardize his mission? What if he decides to hunt me down? He will capture me and extract everything I know.'_

'_And what if he already knows what I know? He will kill me to make sure I don't tell anything to Sasuke.'_

'_And Sasuke? He saw me, he will recognize me and won't back down until I tell him why was I there.'_

'_How even did I end up there? It's all big blur.'_

I knew for certain that my stupid curiosity might have messed up the storyline. I had never come to a consensus whether I should or not. Messing with it meant that I wouldn't know what comes next and the chances of me dying were a lot bigger. Then again, if I stayed as far away from the events as possible, I'd know when to relax and when to hide.

I was distracted from a knock on the door.

First thing I did, after almost dying from a heart stroke, was to run to the other end of the room and grab the night lamp as a weapon. My breathing fastened again, I started trembling even worse and I felt a single drop of sweat run down my forehead.

Another knock, this time more insistent.

I stared at the door, straining every muscle in me, ready to defend myself if need be.

A few seconds of nerve-wracking silence passed and the only thing I could hear was my own heart bumping in my chest.

"Aya?"

My eyes widened as I saw the door handle move.

"Are you okay?"

At this point, panic had complete control over me – over my sight, my hearing, my senses – everything.

The door opened, letting in some light from the corridor. A figure stepped in soundlessly. I readied myself and brought the lamp in a better attacking position.

As the light fully revealed the person, I lurched forwards.

My mom stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide in shock.

Realizing what I was doing, I froze just a few centimeters in front of her.

"Amaya..what…" she uttered.

I dropped the lamp, the glass breaking from the impact. All I could do, everything I had strength for, was to embrace her in a tight hug. I collapsed on her shoulders, sobbing in despair.

* * *

I was woken up by the sun glaring at me – the disadvantage of rooms with big windows. My head hurt and yesterday was still a mist.

I sat up in my bed and noticed I was wearing different clothes.

'_Probably my mother.'_

I wondered what she was thinking about my little break down the previous night. I had to come up with a good story or she'd get suspicious.

I went in the other room and saw her making breakfast.

"Good morning, Aya," she greeted, once spotting me. Her voice sounded calm and careless. "Are you feeling okay now?"

I nodded and went to her, trying to find out what smelled so delicious.

"Pancakes?" I raised a brow.

"I thought we could treat ourselves," she smiled forcefully and placed the food on the table, before taking up with preparing tea.

Once everything was served we took our places and began eating without peeling a single word.

"Do you want to tell me what happened yesterday?" she interjected while sipping from her tea.

After swallowing the piece of pancake I chewed, I told her the whole fake story. How I was still traumatized after so many losses and how this big place scared me. I skipped my day with Dai since I didn't remember it very well.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Mom placed her hand on my shoulder. After seeing my nod she seemingly relaxed. "Go on, tell me what's on your mind."

If there was an appropriate time to tell her about the Academy it was now. However, not knowing how she'd react to it tied a knot in my stomach that I couldn't untie.

"I-I want to go to the Academy."

Right away my mom's expression went from relaxed and caring to stiff and judging. "I thought you'd already given up on that," her tone was also stricter – a sign that I've went too far.

"It's what I want, I won't give up that easy," my posture changed as well as my fears were justified. Why should everything be so hard?!

"No, you are just 8 – you don't know what you want."

"And what am I supposed to do now?!" I stood up, slamming my fists on the table, spilling some of my untouched tea. My mother seemed taken aback but regained her rigid look. "We are not in that stupid village anymore, we don't have this duties that burdened us!"

"No is no, Amaya!"

I sulked and turned around to walk away, "Fine."

I headed straight for Dai's since I couldn't think of anything else.

His mother opened the door with a bright smile on her face, "Hey Amaya, you are just in time for breakfast! Come in."

"Thank you but I already had something," I looked around their apartment remarking that it was the same as ours. The only difference, it was painted in warmer colors, which made it that much cozier.

"Ah, Dai is in his room," his mother informed me.

With a nod I headed there, ready to tell him everything that was on my mind.

He greeted me with a worried, somehow even guilty face, "Hey," he scratched the back of his head. "I knew you were going to be angry but not that much. I came to your place yesterday but you still weren't home and-"

'_What the hell is he talking about?'_

I looked in the small mirror above his bed and indeed saw one bitter person. I hurried to conceal it and turned my attention back to Dai, who was still talking nonsense.

"-and I thought you had to spend some time together to clear it out."

"Wait, stop. What are you talking about?"

He blinked a few times before giving me a proper answer. "You and Kamiko."

"What about us?"

"Uh don't you remember yesterday?" he waited for a positive response. "After we ate at Ichiraku's?"

We stared at each other, confusion in his and plea to keep on talking in my eyes.

"You know, Kamiko came and I .. uh.. ran away to leave you two fix that tension between you… . And you gave me that 'I will kill you look'," I shook my head in horror as I couldn't remember even a bit of what he spoke of. "You don't remember?"

"Not a thing," I rested my head in my arms, trying to recall the events of yesterday.

'_So we arrived in Konoha and were met by the Hokage and then we went to the blocks of flats. That's right. I took a shower and went out with Dai. We shopped and…uh..ate ramen. Teuchi told us we should believe in ourselves and chaise our dreams. Okay, not exactly that but yeah.. And then we paid and left. Outside we stopped. Why did we stop outside?'_

From there on it was all blank until the massacre. What have I done in that time? Was I with Kamiko? Did she have something to do with it?

"Hey, are you ok?" Dai led me to the bed and we both sad down.

"That's a huge mess. I can't- I don't know what happened with Kamiko."

"We should find her and ask."

I glanced at him with disapproval, "No way. She shouldn't understand that I don't remember."

"But why? She will help you," he grabbed my shoulder. "If there is something wrong with you we have to find what it is. If this repeats you can harm yourself."

"Fine, we will find her," I sighed. "But you will ask her. I still don't trust her."

"Deal."

* * *

I stood in the corner of one dark alley, observing the talk between Dai and Kamiko. By the way, tracking her down was a pain. I am absolutely prone to believe she appears only when she wants to be seen and today was not one of those days. I had suggested to go to the graveyard with absolute seriousness but Dai had cut me off instantly. He was one of those people that just can't judge others from first sight, unlike me.

They were laughing and seemed to have great time. I frowned and wished Dai was going straight on point and not just pointlessly flirting with her. Shivers ran through my body – could Dai be into her?

'_That's not happening.'_

I moved a bit so he could see me and signed him to hurry. He gave me an annoyed look and returned his full attention to Kamiko. I returned the look and hid back behind the corner.

It was odd, because it hurt. It hurt to see Dai having a good time with someone I disliked. Ridiculous really, since I was mentally older than him and crushing on an 8-year-old boy felt wrong. But truth is truth and it couldn't be helped.

Dismissing this line of thinking, I concentrated on the more serious problems.

A part of my memory was missing. **Missing. **Now in my previous life this'd be shocking and either because of an illness of some sort or the consummation of alcohol/drugs, however I do not remember taking any. Unless Kamiko gave me something, which, although I don't trust her, is unlikely. I would've felt other symptoms if I was ill so that was out of question. Coming to the extraordinary factors in my life, it might be a side effect of being reborn. It wouldn't surprise me if my mind was fucked up but why show signs so late in time? Last but not least, I am in Konoha, surrounded by sensory ninja, genjutsu masters and other people capable of memory-manipulation.

It could've been a side effect.

It could've been Kamiko.

It could've been Itachi.

It could've even been ANBU that had somehow detected me last night or are aware of my knowledge.

So many options almost drove me crazy.

"You should be more patient, you know."

I almost jumped.

"Hey, it's just me," Dai said, this time calmer.

I sighed and shook my head; I was getting paranoid.

"So, what did she say?"

"Apparently after I left you two have gone to some shops and then had a long walk around. She has left you in front of the block."

"Did she say when?"

"Late afternoon," he furrowed his brows. "I went to your place around that time as well but you weren't there. You either hadn't gone home right away or I have missed you. Actually, what's the last thing you remember?"

The question caught me off guard.

"Um.. the lunch with you. I have no idea what has happened after that. Though, I woke up in my bed today," I couldn't tell him the whole truth yet.

All my theories were possible but there was one question: Why?

ANBU, Itachi, why would they delete exactly **that** fragment of my memory? It made no sense. This left two options – either my brain was seriously messed up or…

I peeped out of the corner. There was no trace of Kamiko.


	6. Chapter Five

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Five

Returning home was like going to the battlefield. My stomach was tied in a knot, my heart was racing and I knew I was going to meet trouble. (Or it may have been because of paranoia due to my missing memory.) I walked in the living room and saw my mother washing the dishes. I made sure to close the door loud enough for her to hear me but she showed no such signs.

"Mom?"

She stopped for a second and then resumed her washing. I went closer to her. A feel of guilt overwhelmed me as I saw her eyes red from crying.

"Mom, I'm sorry."

She shook her head and lathered a cup I recognized as mine from breakfast.

Why was this damn day loaded with so many emotions?

After so much, all I could do was to stay there and stare at the wall behind her. The time stopped, the only sound was the running water, the only movement - my mother's hands.

A lot of things crossed my mind but I didn't bother to concentrate on any of them. It was a mess in there and I was just going to give myself a headache.

Suddenly silence filled the room and I saw my mom had finished. I looked at her expectedly.

She returned me one of those strict parental looks and sighed, "You greatly insulted me today. But more importantly you insulted your father and his wish."

"What?" I gaped.

"Your father was explicit about it. Or you don't care about his opinion now that he is dead?" she raised her voice as tears started falling from her eyes.

"Mom... I don't mean it this way. I respect both you and dad," I took a second to construct my sentence correctly. "But I also respect my own opinion and dreams. Being a ninja is not just a childish fad. I know what it means. During the attack I saw what they go through - they deal with constant death, deep wounds, both physical and emotional, delivering bad news and watching others suffer as well. I also know this is not the worst part."

I tried to stop here but my mouth had a mind of its own. Right now, it was working in cooperation with my dark side. The speech that had begun as a simple statement was now a fierce combination of shouting and crying.

"Have you ever even wondered about what has happened in your precious village?! Have you thought about it enough to realize it was an attack or are you naïve enough to just let it go?! If you had just let me follow my dream when I first asked it wouldn't have come to this – dad wouldn't be dead. If you let me do it I'll make sure that we are all okay, I'll be able to protect you! That is the point, isn't it?"

"There is more to it than plain stubbornness, as you think."

"And what is it then?" I raised my voice half-intentionally.

"Will you reconsider your decision if I tell you?"

I quirked a brow at the change in her composure.

"Depends, but go on."

"It started about a year before you were born. Your father and I, and all the other villagers were once Konoha citizens - civilians. It came as an idea from above; the village elders, particularly a guy named Danzo. They believed it'd be beneficial to build a secret-ish workhouse for battle supplies and so built the workhouse. They sent innocent families there under strict regulations. We couldn't just move back to Konoha or anywhere else for the matter; we had to always work and fulfil our duties and we could have only one child," she wiped her tears. "Your father had always wanted a big family. These rules killed him inside and he soon grew to hate Konohagakure and the Five Great Nations. He had never disapproved of you becoming a ninja, he just didn't want you to be dependent on one of those villages."

I was dumbfounded.

"This," I tried to slow down my mind enough to finish my sentence. "Actually makes sense."

I felt like collapsing on the ground. I was ashamed and feeling guilty for raising my voice at her and for bringing up dad. More tears ran down my cheeks, faster and warmer.

"I'm so sorry," I whimpered. "But this only gives me more reasons to want to become a ninja. It's a chance to actually change the world, even if it's insignificant. I know I sound ridiculous but there is a way. I can make sure that such injustice will never happen to you again! If you only let me."

"I don't really believe you will be able. I wanted you to know what your father's arguments were. Now that you know, you can make the decision for yourself; I won't stop you," she put a hand on my shoulder and looked straight into my eyes. "Do you, in your heart, want to become a kunoichi?"

"Yes, I do."

* * *

The sky was cloudy and much to my disappointment I couldn't watch the stars. Actually, it was raining – a mild night rain. The drops fell on the metal ledge, giving out a relaxing melody. The moon lit the trees around the neighborhood and thus shadows covered half of my room.

A battle was held.

The place was my own body, the competitors – thousands of thoughts and the need to sleep.

The latter was a genjutsu user – it used its powers to distract and trick into believing it offered peace. In fact, what one meets there were hallucinations similar to the ones in the Infinite Tsukuyomi but with the big chance of them being horrid.

Its opponent was specialized in taijutsu. With the speed of light and the strength of a boxer it hit multiple times from each and every direction – even the ones one didn't suspect were possible.

The two were longtime rivals. Their power was equal and it constantly changed. After every battle they returned stronger for the infinite clash to be able to continue.

However tonight, sleep had brought back-up – the malicious rain. With this union they managed to spread a thick layer of illusion over everything.

* * *

Everything was dark. It was muggy. The air felt really thick and heavy. I found it hard to breathe and my heart rate was too slow. I could hear rumbling in the far distance. Any orientation was lost – my senses were dulled. I soon became paranoid. Someone was standing behind me, in front of me, next to me, everywhere. Someone was watching me. I screamed but no sound escaped my mouth.

Red color in the form of lightning stroke just a few steps in front of me. Sparkles of electricity made their way to me, floating on the spilled red liquid. I moved a step back just to hit something massive – a wall.

As I watched the thing come closer, I glimpsed a silhouette. Abruptly turning my head to it, a strong light blinded me. I closed my eyes in attempt to ease the pain it caused but it wouldn't go away. It felt like a swarm of bees eating my scull from inside out.

When, after seconds that passed like an eternity, I reopened them again I focused on the only thing that had changed in the picture. One big Sharingan stared in front of me, the three tomoes contrasting on the bright red surface. I found that I couldn't move my gaze no matter how hard I tried. The thing was hypnotizing me, I felt it clearly and struggled against it. The more I tried to move, the more unease I felt until finally an agonizing pain shot through my body. Every muscle cramped, every bone felt like it was breaking, like something ripped me apart.

I screamed with as much voice I had, the act rushing me back to reality.

I sat upright in my bed, staring at the wall, my body covered in sweat and my heart beating fast.

A lightning lit the night sky with force so big to transform it into a day for the mere second it lasted.

I took a moment to look around, calm my breathing and be able to hear again. I finally noticed the heavy rain that was hitting my windows. A thunder echoed in the distance signalizing that the storm was already far away.

I exhaled slowly and set the nightmare I had to the side of my mind. It was only a nightmare, nothing more. Nonetheless, I managed to fall asleep only when the first sun rays showed up from behind the mountain.

* * *

I woke up to the smell of some goodness baking. I got up with excitement, hurrying into the kitchen and temporary forgetting about the events of the night.

My mom was there, leaning over the oven and looking through the little window.

"Mom, what is this?" I asked as I came closer to inspect.

"Cookies," she stated while getting the tray out. "I hope I didn't burn them."

"They look pretty good to me."

My mouth watered at the sight of them.

Someone rang on the door and she hurried to open it. It revealed Dai standing outside. I saw them exchange some words before he came to me.

"Well here certainly smells very nice."

"Good morning to you too," I greeted.

We went to my room, where we could talk without being heard, because Dai wanted to discuss something in private.

"So your mother is inviting my parents over to talk about something I believe is important." He stated, after I closed the door behind me.

"She hadn't mentioned anything to me. Do you know about what?" I asked.

"No idea. But we will know soon, my parents will come in a few minutes."

I nodded and sat on my bed, getting comfortable. I patted the space next to me for Dai to sit and together we waited for news.

It had been already about an hour after Dai's parents had come. We could hear their voices from the kitchen but couldn't figure out any words.

We heard steps and soon enough my door cracked open. Both of us tried to act as if we weren't eavesdropping, failing miserably.

"Guys, come join us. We need to discuss something," mom said, ignoring our odd behavior.

Simultaneously, we jumped from the bed and ran out, leaving her with a raised brow.

"So, Amaya's mother was kind enough to invite us and share her thoughts on your little dream," Dai's father began, talking mostly to Dai. "She expressed her fears but also encouraged us to accept. And-" he was interrupted.

"And we came to the conclusion that you will benefit more if you join the Academy than not," Dai's mother continued.

"We will now go and check how things stand and sign you up," mom finished.

"What?!" I almost chocked on the leftover cookie I was eating. "Are you for real?"

The three of them smiled and nodded.

"Oh my God, thank you so much!" I particularly jumped on my mother's neck from happiness.

"Should we come with you now?" Dai asked. He had kept silent the whole time, the complete opposite of me. When I tried to decipher his expression I found it was unreadable.

His parents exchanged a glance.

"No. You two have an important task – spend this last day together and rethink everything," his mother clarified. "Because tomorrow there will be no turning back." she added absolutely serious.

* * *

Dai and I had been going around aimlessly for hours without saying a word. It was almost as if we were mad at each other, the one looking in one direction and the other in the opposite. It looked like we were both so deep in thought that we didn't even notice the other's presence. But it wasn't that. All I could do was to wonder what was wrong with Dai. Ever since we went out of the apartment he had this concerned look.

"Hey, mind telling me what's wrong?" I finally asked, trying to sound casual about it. After he didn't give me an answer, I took more drastic measures. I turned around, blocking his path. "Dai. Talk to me."

He frowned, "I'm not really sure, Amaya. That's wrong."

I signed to him to continue.

"Not here. Let's find somewhere to sit.''

"Okay."

We sat on one bench not far away from the village entrance. I recognized it as the bench – you know, the one where Sasuke-Naruto almost kissed Sakura in the very beginning of the anime.

Dai sighed and started talking, "It's just I'm not sure I want this anymore."

"But why?"

"I know stuff about the Academy too, Amaya. Don't treat me like an idiot," I opened my mouth to protest but he shushed me. "For example, children start the Academy when they are 5. We are 8 now. This means we are three years behind. Let's face it, if they don't mock us because we are not from Konoha it will be because they know more about ninja than us. We will be the class' clowns."

I looked at him in disbelief. My, he was really serious about this. Like the good friend I am, I just raised my brows and laughed. Laughed so hard I almost fell from the bench.

When I saw his frown further, I bit my lips to stop and sighed deeply.

"Sorry about that but do you seriously underestimate yourself so much? I mean, come on, we probably know more about shinobi and chakra than them. We have trained, remember?"

Dai shrugged ever so slightly and stared at the ground.

"Ok, if this will make you feel better, wanna do one last training? Like a dress rehearsal."

He seemed to wonder but agreed.

We started off with a warm up and proceeded with simple chakra exercises. It was nice to see that we hadn't forgotten the hang of it, after not doing it regularly for quite some time. As always, Dai was doing a lot better than me and managed to climb a tree, whereas I still couldn't support my weight.

The biggest success was, however, the Bunshin Jutsu. I managed one fully responsive clone and Dai – two.

"Wow," I gaped. "And you are worried about the Academy. Look at you!"

Dai scratched the back of his head and a bright grin appeared on his face, "Okay, I admit you were right."

"Good," I returned the grin. "Now, want to try the Substitution Jutsu? I think they study this as well." I forced my mind to remember other simple techniques, "Oh, and the Transformation Technique."

With a nod Dai formed the Ram seal, "Transform!"

I laughed as he transformed into me and copied, transforming into him.

The rest of the day we spent into further training and talking like in the good old times. It was one last reminder before we made the fatal jump into the unknown.

* * *

I tossed in my bed, not being able to sleep despite my exhaustion. It weren't the nightmares that were keeping me awake but the nerves. My mom had returned. I was signed in and starting tomorrow with Dai.

This was the first major step I did since I was reborn. I suddenly felt the weight of the decisions I had to make on my shoulders.

What was I doing from now on?

How was my presence going to change the plot?

Will I be in the same class as the main characters?

And the question that haunted me the entire night – Will Sasuke recognize me and what will he do?

Today I had also forgotten about the missing memory and now it paid off.

* * *

This was probably the most nerve-wracking experience of my life. It wasn't like the attack or the massacre, where I was plain mortified, but in every meaning of the word. I was a ball of nerves, cold sweat covering my body ever since I have gone out of home. Up until now I had never been 'the new girl' and the foreignness contributed to my mood.

Dai, who was walking next to me, was tense as well but either not that much or just hid it better. Our walk was once again silent but this time I couldn't care less about it.

The questions I couldn't answer were still haunting me even after another sleepless night. I could only imagine how creepy I looked with my black hair, generally pale complexion and the forming bags under my eyes. Where were concealers when you needed them?

At some point it would feel like the path was endless, like I was anxious for nothing because I wouldn't even get to the Academy. This sensation overwhelmed me completely, suffocating me. I felt the urge to choke but held it back, because of Dai. I didn't want him to see the crisis I was in, although he could probably sense it.

Then the complete opposite would hit me.

I realized we would be there any moment and, if possible, I became even more nervous. My heart was beating so fast, I could get a heart stroke any moment.

We passed by the swing in front of the building and with the exchange of a last glance of reassurance we went in.

The place was pretty big, resembling an ordinary school in both the good and bad ways. We stopped just after the entrance and looked around in confusion.

"Should we ask someone?" Dai suggested.

"Good idea…if there were people here."

The entrance led into a big corridor with rooms on both sides. The voices of students and teachers could be heard in the distance but there was no one out.

We continued down it with no particular idea of where we were going. I peeked inside one open door and noticed a blond boy getting picked at.

'_Naruto.' _

"Beware, this will be us after today," Dai stated when he saw it.

I wished I could answer him but words wouldn't form. He was right, maybe we will get bullied after all.

For a minute I thought about going there and helping Naruto. Then I just realized it'd be pointless since they were more than me and most likely stronger.

"Who do we have here? The new- Oh, not again," I turned to see Iruka, who ran past us and in the room, putting an end to the fight. "Everyone take your places, please. I have someone to introduce to you."

He waved us in.

"Say your prayers," I heard Dai whisper and bit my lip to hide my laugh.

"Meet your new classmates – Amaya and Dai. They've moved from another village to study here. I expect you to treat them well," He looked at us. "Go find a place to sit and don't be shy."

In the background the kids began whispering and rustling with the occasional muffled giggles.

"Nobody likes foreigners so no one will like you!" A boy with a hostile look shouted to us.

Ignoring him, we sat on the last desk. Ever since I attended school I preferred the last rows – it was well hidden from the teacher and you could observe the whole class from there. I searched specifically for the Rookie 9. They were all present, except one.

Sasuke.


	7. Chapter Six

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Six

The first weeks of the Academy had brought joy and satisfaction but also inner hell for me. On the outside I had tried to stay positive, to act normal. In every situation that had required me to give an opinion or a reaction, I'd first think 'Yes, that's what Amaya will do'. My inner self had been in a paranoid crisis regarding two reasons – the missing bits of my memory and Sasuke, who hadn't had showed to school for way too much time.

With my memory I had reached a dead end and although knowing it had something to do with Kamiko, I hadn't been able to confront her.

Since day one I've felt something malicious in her and the feeling didn't go away. It hadn't helped that I did not remember ever having a one-on-one talk with her, which had only made me believe I had had erased memory before. It wouldn't stop her from doing it again – that had been part of the reason I had tried to avoid her. If I'd tried to go with someone else, that someone being Dai, she would just have lied.

At that point, it had seemed like I couldn't do a thing to protect myself so I gave up.

The Sasuke problem had been more in my head rather than a real issue, though it could've been a possibility. I hadn't paid much attention when I didn't see him on my first day; it had been logical and to some extent necessary for him to be absent. I'd begun to worry once there had been no sign of him for over two weeks. Rumors of the massacre had begun spreading, people slandering Itachi and not a single word for the younger Uchiha. As if I hadn't been anxious enough, the thought of **him** dying, because of **my **sudden appearance, had temporary settled in my brain.

All I had known about the Academy had been from what I'd seen in the anime, narrowing the circle to its attitude towards the students compared to the other nations. Although thankful for that, I had been reserved at first, having been aware of the fact it **was** a school and no school was nice.

My first impression of the Academy had been pretty bad just because it reminded of a classic school.

We had different subjects, although not the traditional ones, grades, tests and all the stuff I despised in my first life.

The difference had become noticeable once I'd spend about month or two there.

Other than the whole idea of the educational system, the way the material was taught was vastly different, for the better. Instead of a number of teachers, only one could teach per class. This way he/she had enough time to grow a bond with the children, get to know their personality, their strong and weak spots etc.

Personally for Iruka I hadn't been sure if he had extraordinary pedagogical abilities but looking back now, he had Dai and me accessed on first sight.

Another thing that had surprised me pleasantly back then was the distribution of the teaching material.

Normal kids spent six years in the Academy before graduating. All they had to learn for those years was some theory, some tai- and ninjutsu and other basic skill. A standard school would teach all of that in one single year, whereas here they really took their time. The material was hammered into their heads for so long, it was nearly impossible to not memorize it.

In class was emphasized on proper explanation and setting an example instead of pointing out someone's flaws.

When Dai and I had joined in the third year Iruka hadn't taught any jutsu yet. All they've studied was how to read, write and count, and the basics of the ninja laws.

"_Before becoming a real ninja one must first have the basis," _Iruka had once said to a very eager to fight Naruto, who had protested against the lack of activity.

It had been exactly the year we began studying about chakra. In my opinion Dai and I couldn't have been luckier because we had an advantage in form of previous knowledge in front of the others. While they had still struggled to grasp the concept of chakra, we had been able to catch up on the previous years and even further develop out skills.

Tai- and ninjutsu had finally come in the year after. Those had been and still were the years every Academy student eagerly looked forward to. The two techniques were studied together, their time equally distributed in the weekdays. Ninjutsu had been nothing special, just a repetition of what I had already known, therefore I had given prominence to taijutsu. I had never tried marital arts in my previous life, although I had been pretty much surrounded by it, and I'd been ready to give it a chance.

Taijutsu was essential to a ninja and being influent in at least one of its subcategories brought distinct advantage. I had for sure known I wasn't becoming another Rock Lee but I believed it'd be from good use one day.

It had been those last years that I'd finally felt the pressure of learning. I had been trying to concentrate on my aim with shuriken and kunai and in the meantime not fall behind with handseals.

To describe my performance in the Academy I could only use the word 'average'. I had both strengths and weaknesses like most of my classmates but was one of the few that was happy with it. As normality went, everyone was aiming for the top and got envious and angry upon seeing it wouldn't happen.

Personally I tried to stay away from such unneeded attention.

Eventually Sasuke had shown up bringing both relief and a new reason to worry. Mere seconds after I had sighed, relieved that he wasn't dead and the plotline was still most certainly intact, I had to look away and hope he wouldn't recognize me.

It wasn't really hard to avoid him since he wasn't searching for interaction anyway but it left me with a few limitations.

Dai and I could rival Sasuke in terms of jutsu skill, though we never showed it. I didn't want to trample on his dignity.

If he was to remember who I am, it'd be a pain to explain. Mainly, because I didn't know the details myself such as how I ended up there. Lying was pointless since it was Sasuke we're talking about. He would surely catch on at some point and make my position even more complicated.

It's sad to say nothing really happened in the past 4 years I spent in the Academy. Maybe the one distinguishing thing was I achieved inner harmony. Harmony with my dark side, which by now was residing in the very back of my mind and was deep asleep. I found that 12 years was approximately the time one needed to get used to a new world. To accept that the people who raised you were actually your parents, the place where you found yourself after being reborn was your motherland and the peers that reminded you so much of the friends of your previous life were completely different people with their own personality. And this all meant so much.

Finally, I recognized myself as Amaya Hoshino.

The nights, which I had spent thinking about my old life were in the past. Now, I was doing different plans during that time. On the sound of the rain, which happened to fall pretty often during the night, I dreamed of the not-so-bright-future that was before me.

At some point I had lost the paranoia of being around too many people or Kamiko. In the rare occasions I had run into her, she hadn't shown any excessive will to harm me therefore I had forcefully convinced myself the missing memory was a hitch of being reborn.

I've always known it wasn't that but the need of peace was stronger than my common sense. I couldn't live in constant fear anyway.

* * *

A few weeks before graduation I saw Dai talking exactly to Kamiko on my way out of school. It hit me hard. The bond between Dai and me was stronger than ever and despite all my warnings he still couldn't see anything wrong with the girl.

I watched as they talked and laughed together, unaware of my presence. I was jealous and I knew it was obvious.

My face turned an angry red color when I'd had enough. I made a fierce 180 degrees turn and bumped into someone.

I looked up to see who I almost took down, instantly blushing when I met cold black eyes and a stern face.

"Ugh, sorry," I muttered. When our glances met I sensed him tense and decided it was better to go. I sidestepped and continued down just to be stopped.

"Wait," **Sasuke** finally spoke, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I've seen you before."

'_Oh come on… Did you really notice me just now?'_

"Yeah, I am in your class," I tried to say without sounding annoyed.

"No. I saw you **then**."

"What?" My heart started beating faster as I caught on what he meant. "I think you mistook me for someone else."

I hurried to leave before he could protest, making the situation even more awkward.

* * *

Graduation was just like in the anime; smooth. For Dai and me the Clone Technique was like reading or talking – we could perform it at any given time. Not surprisingly, the majority of the students passed the test. All without Naruto, who now had a scroll to steal.

I was happy to graduate the Academy, however this was just the first step. Now I had to pass the test my jounin instructor would give me. I wasn't stupid, I knew the chances Dai or I to be promoted to genin were little to zero. I had reached a consensus with myself and was ready to fail.

What scared me more was that I had absolutely no idea, who my teacher was going to be or who were my teammates. For the latter there were two variations – I would either be with Dai or not. Iruka had to know we'd work the best together.

Otherwise, disorder would become possible even in the Rookie 9, something I couldn't, under any circumstances, afford. From what I knew only Team 7, 8 and 10 had managed to get to genin from the whole class and if that got messed up the entire plotline would change.

In simple words, no matter how much I wanted to be a ninja, I had to fail.

* * *

On the day of announcing the teams I was even more nervous than that dreaded first day.

I observed the future Team 7 members and their behavior for an eventual sign of disturbance. So far, everything was as it should. The tension between Sasuke's fangirls had everyone's attention so I could stare undisturbed.

I raised suspicion only in Dai, when I accidentally pre-giggled at the infamous kiss.

Iruka showed up just in time to spare Naruto more serious injuries from the fangirls and, thankfully, didn't waste time in announcing the teams.

"Team 7 –"

My heart skipped a bit.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

I only let out the breath I was holding after hearing Team 8 had the same members as well.

"Team 9 – Dai Izumi, Taichi Nagata and Amaya Hoshino."

I snorted and glanced at Taichi, who didn't necessarily look happy to be with 'the foreigners'.

During the given lunch break most of the teams went out together in order to get to know each other or something of that sort. I was with Dai alright, but Taichi was nowhere to be seen. Not like we minded. He was one or even the** only** kid I couldn't stand. He had been the first to call us names when we arrived and his attitude towards us never changed. He was stupid and arrogant, his head always lifted up.

"Let's not search too hard for him," I suggested.

"Can't we ask for a change in teams or something?" Dai murmured and shook his head. "I can't stand the guy."

"I'm afraid we can't. We'll have to find a way to cooperate."

'_Don't worry Dai, you won't actually have to be with him after we fail.'_

* * *

Our sensei was one of the first to arrive.

He was one of the many jonin I had never seen, which kind of disappointed me.

"Team 9, come with me," he ordered.

We followed him out in the yard.

"Now, don't get full of yourself just because you have a headband. This doesn't mean you are shinobi. Tomorrow is your final test. I'll meet you here at 7am exactly so if even one of you is late, I'll fail you," he adjusted his own hitai-ate. "You can now go."

"Wait, shouldn't we introduce ourselves? Can we at least know your name?"

He shot me a threatening glare, "I do not need plain names in my head. If you pass your test tomorrow, then we'll chat."

He then disappeared.

"That was rude," Dai concluded.

Taichi frowned and looked at us, "Don't be late."

"Yeah, don't worry," I waved my hand and sent him off. "Bye."

"So, do you want to train later today?" Dai asked, carelessly putting his hands behind the head.

"Yeah. Are you going home now?"

"I have to," he sighed. "My room won't clean by itself."

"Oh, better go then," I laughed. "Bye Dai."

"See you later."

I didn't want to go home yet, not on that sunny day, so I headed to the center.

I was planning to kill the time before the training with Dai, then go home and straight to bed since I had a lot to think about.

The center was buzzing with life. The stalls were fuller than ever, clients lining to get fresh food. I passed by several kids pleading their parents for Dango. I myself felt like eating some just because of the smell that hung in the air.

"Aya!"

I turned around to see who called me and suppressed a pouting expression, "Kamiko?"

"Long time no see, ne?" the eggplant haired girl smiled brightly. "What are you up to?"

I shivered. There were a lot of people around so she couldn't potentially harm me. Still, being alone with her made me uneasy.

"Nothing really."

"Great, wanna come with me then?" she blinked her brown eyes expectedly.

Sweat broke on my forehead, "Um, come where?"

I did **not** want to go anywhere with her but if we stuck to a crowded space there shouldn't be a problem. I could observe her this way, without exposing myself to danger and see if I could extract some information out of her. She was the only one that possible what had happened with me on **that** day.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "You can chose."

"Let's go this way." I pointed to the most crowded street.

* * *

_3rd Person POV:_

Genma Shiranui loved his job. To be a shinobi – that was his dream from when he was still a naïve kid. Now that he had been into the profession for decades, he couldn't help but regret his decision. A little and just on rare occasions.

He was supposed to have a few days off but both today and yesterday only were busier than the past few months. When he had first started, unexpected situations excited him, made him feel from real importance. It had been the sudden adrenaline rushes that ignited his love for the most dangerous job and nothing could extinguish it.

However with age, he began to prefer more accurate time distribution. Surprising duty was no longer appealing; just a drag.

Yesterday, the 4th Hokage's son had once again caused trouble when he had somehow stolen the Scroll of Seals.

Genma wondered, what would've come out of the lad if Minato was still alive. Having served under the 4th, he knew the man could deal with serious political problems with ease, let alone raise a child. He and Kushina would've been amazing parents if they'd only survived.

A lot of people speculated that sealing a Bijuu in his own child had been an act of panic of not knowing what to do. Those people were unthankful and undeserving of protection in Genma's eyes. For him what Minato had done was plain genius. To be able to come up with a long-term plan to grant your child power and simultaneously save a **village**, all under pressure, was an act only a true shinobi could execute.

If anything the jonin hoped Minato and Kushina couldn't see what their son was doing; they didn't deserve it.

Today, a word came that one A-rank mission had ended with an ambush. It happened so that the jonin assigned to night patrol had suffered serious injuries and now Genma had to take his shift.

Night patrol was mostly ANBU's work, only on rare occasions, during wars or suchlike measures, were assigned jonin. It didn't mean that something will happen. Actually it was most likely to not stumble at anything. What everyone hated in these patrols was their 12 hour duration. Elite shinobi or not, Genma was a human being and suffered fatigue.

The sun was just beginning to settle.

'_This will be a long night.'_ Genma thought.

* * *

_Amaya's POV (Normal POV)_

A sudden burst of panic overwhelmed me.

"Kamiko, we strayed, didn't we?"

* * *

**A/N**: So after this chapter the story will go just a little bit AU-ish. Actually I'm not sure if it classifies as AU or not. Just be ready for action.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Seven

"We did indeed," Kamiko retorted. "We got carried away."

"I think I'll be heading back," I looked up at the orangey sky. "It's getting dark and my mother is waiting."

"We'll go back together then," she took a step, shortening the distance between us.

I took a step back. My heart was beating so fast, it could probably be heard.

"Let's go," she grabbed my hand and grinned. Her eyes sparkled.

I instantly looked away, following one of the shinobi laws.

_"Never look straight into the eyes of your opponent unless you know for sure it's safe."_ Iruka's voice echoed in my head.

It wasn't safe.

"Look at me," her voice was stern this time.

I shook my head.

_'How can I be so stupid?! What do I do now?' _

I sloppily tried to hide the fear from my face, although Kamiko could still sense it.

A sudden disruption of the air and I felt my cheek burn, under Kamiko's hand. Not a second after, she squeezed my chin between her fingers and forcefully turned my head towards her.

Everything went silent except my heavy breathing. With the corners of my eye I saw her tilt her head to meet my gaze.

All the training I had in the Academy suddenly left my memory. At this moment I realized I wasn't a shinobi that could act under pressure.

'_Genjutsu…'_

Dizziness followed right after I met her muddy brown eyes.

* * *

_3rd person POV:_

"Follow me," the purple-haired girl ordered and made her way deeper in the woods.

After making sure she is well away from the village and anyone's supervision she asked the other girl a single question.

"Will you tell me what bothers you?"

The conversation was normal at first sight; there was no shouting or any sort of tension between the participants. However, at a closer look, it was pretty obvious that one of the girls was manipulating the other.

"I know something bothers you," she smiled. "You can tell me anything."

For a second their eyes interlocked.

"There's a lot on my shoulders; a big burden."

The dark-haired girl finally said, though her voice was not louder than a whisper.

"We have a lot of time. Come on, tell me."

"You probably won't believe me but… I have been reborn in this world," she laughed. "I don't come from here, no. I've watched about the place on TV!"

Kamiko too forced a laugh, "Indeed sounds ridiculous."

"Oh, I know. Even more so when I know what will happen in the next 5 years."

"You do?" Kaniko looked in Amaya's eyes; she wasn't lying. "What do you know?"

"Hm, I wonder if I should tell you."

The aubergine-haired girl grabbed her arm, strengthening the genjutsu. She needed the information fast before she reached the limits of her chakra.

"Talk."

"Okay. At the Chunin Exams, for example, Orochimaru will attack the village in alliance with Sunagakure."

Kamiko's eyes widened. That was vital Intel. Her leader was going to be proud this time.

She looked at Amaya with pity in her eyes. For a second she wondered what to do with her. She didn't have enough chakra to hold the genjutsu until the base nor could she afford to leave her.

She sighed and untied the piece of bandage on her arm. On its wrong side was engraved a seal, holding various ninja tools. She summoned the rope she needed and swung it over her shoulder.

With a mysterious glow in her eyes Kamiko approached the girl, who under the genjutsu was as good as defenseless, and landed a steady hit on her head. Amaya collapsed immediately, unconscious, on the ground.

"That should hold until I return."

* * *

Dai passed by the blocks of flats for the third time, as he finished his lap around. The night had just settled in and the visibility was less than 2 meters.

He furrowed his brows, then let out a sigh – no conditions for training. He looked around in case someone approached him but everything seemed clear.

Biting his lip he thought back to the conversation he had with Amaya earlier. She **had** agreed to train with him. Then, where was she?

Going back to her flat was pointless. He had gone once and even then Amaya's mother seemed to become nervous; if he went again the poor woman would probably sicken with worry.

_'Where could she be?'_ Dai asked himself.

It wouldn't be unusual for his best friend to take a walk but miss their appointment - that was not in her style.

Although it was already dark outside, it wasn't late so the main streets of the village were still crowded. Dai headed to the center without any particular plan in head. The chances of finding her there were minimal but he had to try. And if there's still no clue of her he'd head back and hope she's home.

Dai passed by several stores, which he had throughout fully searched for Amaya. The people slowly took to their homes, leaving his search area clearer but also minimalizing his hopes to find her.

He had almost gave up when he reached the ramen shop of Ichiraku. For a moment he wondered if there was point to check. Would Amaya really replace training for food? He chuckled, knowing it was indeed possible.

He opened the curtains and peered inside. To his disappointment, Amaya was not there.

"How can I help you, kid?" Teuchi asked, peeping from the kitchen.

"I wonder," Dai scratched his head. "Have you seen a girl with long black curly hair here soon?"

"Hm let me think about that..."

"Aye, Dai, you talking about Amaya?"

"Huh?" the brunet turned to the voice, having just realized there was a third person inside. "Oh, hi, Naruto. Yes, I mean Amaya."

"I've seen her!" the blond chirped, then frowned. "It was some time ago, though."

"Where did you see her?"

"She was on one of the busy streets, the one that leads to the woods, with another girl."

"What girl?" Dai raised a brow.

"Well," Naruto thought. "She looked strange and I think her hair was purple."

"Damn it," Dai spat out and left, mouthing a thanks.

* * *

_Amaya's POV:_

_'Gen..Genjutsu.'_

A voice in my head, so faint it was hardly detectable, kept repeating.

I slowly opened my eyes and became aware of my throbbing head. I groaned, then, looked around. Some deluded instinct that hadn't abandoned me in those few hours kicked in when I realized I was alone, in the forest and tied to a tree.

I struggled against the rope but managed to only rub my skin sore.

I stopped and thought back; I could remember, although faintly, what I'd done with Kamiko.

Something about this meetings with her rang a bell, unfortunately not loud enough for me to hear. I had to concentrate, which was easier said than done. I was practically defenseless in the dark near a shinobi village. Good or not in math, I could calculate the chances of potentially dangerous people spotting me and they were **big**.

I exhaled slowly and convinced my mind that if I hadn't been found by now two or so more minutes wouldn't make a difference.

'_Genjutsu.'_

My eyes widened as I brought my hands in a ram seal. Well, tried to. I managed to only bruise my hand when it brushed against the rope. I swore, regretting not carrying a kunai with me.

Something in the distance moved followed by the sound of breaking sticks.

Knowing that I was short of time, I looked around for anything sharp. That's what they did in movies, right? I could theoretically find a left over kunai or shuriken from some past fierce battle that had been held years ago.

Of course, nothing like that happened.

Twigs cracked again.

"Uh, there should be a jutsu for this," I whispered to myself.

I couldn't recall any of those being taught at the Academy and the ones that could be adapted required hand signs. Actually every jutsu did, excluding the chakra exercises from my childhood.

'_Wait. I'm so stupid.' _

I was tied with a rope! Rope as in Rope Escape Technique. I had never performed it successfully before and wasn't sure I would now of all times – under pressure and constantly repeating the events of the day. (Coming to that, I had already forgotten how I had met Kamiko today.) It was my only chance.

Hurriedly I began preforming it, praying to all Gods I knew it'd work.

Synchronized with the nearest bush moving, I freed myself from the rope's grip. I jumped away and took a fighting stance. I didn't leave the bush out of sight while wiping the sweat from my forehead.

A fox appeared from behind it, almost instantly running away after seeing the predator on its path; especially after this predator let out a much girly scream.

Without giving in to stupid emotions such as embarrassment and wasting my precious time, I brought up my hand to a half ram seal.

"Release!"

I kept repeating the events of the day I knew I'd soon forget.

'_Come on!'_

"Release!" I repeated, putting more effort.

A few seconds passed in silence, only the distant song of the crickets signifying time hadn't stopped. Slowly I released the seal and dug in my memory.

The part where I'd seen Kamiko and came here was missing _but_ I could remember what we talked about.

"This is fucking bad."

If she said to anyone about my past it was the end of me. I couldn't afford it, I wasn't ready to deal with it and honestly, I didn't believe I'd be able to **ever**.

I took off to the only direction that seemed logical in a pointless attempt to stop Kamiko.

* * *

_3rd Person POV:_

The purple-haired girl leaped from branch to branch with a smirk on her face she hadn't lost for hours. She would never admit it but she kept imagining the approval she'd get form Danzo and, the most satisfying part, the envy in her co-members' eyes when they heard she'd found a gold mine.

Lord Danzo was a strict person considering his ways of producing shinobi. That's what some people said, anyway. For Kamiko, who had been raised from him, it made no difference. She didn't know any other ways to become a ninja.

Lord Danzo never had a bond with his students, even a blind man could see that, however she had a big devotion to him. She refused to look deeper and search for the reason but her feelings were well-known to her. He was the closest thing she'd ever had to a parent. Even the other members of the Foundation treated her bad because of her age. Also, she rarely saw Danzo so whenever that happened he wasn't in a mood to shout at her. Not that shouting impressed her anymore.

This time she'd make him proud. The mission she had been given of the tender age of 4 was nearing its end and it smelled of success.

She had been briefly instructed what to do and had known about the duration span. To say she got lucky was boasting but she really did. For all she knew, she could've still been in that shitty village, observing boring people all day long. Amaya had helped her greatly by distancing and raising her suspicion. That had triggered her force-taught instincts and made her research. That had brought her to the classified information.

What was about to happen to the girl was entirely her own fault.

Distracted by her thoughts, Kamiko almost **fell** from the branch she just hopped on.

"Stupid leaves," she hissed and jumped on another.

Now that she was reminded of it, her chakra reserves were indeed low; it wouldn't be a bad idea to stick to simple running in case she needed to use jutsu later.

Unfortunately, at most occasions, she had more stamina than chakra. And although stamina was crucial for a ninja, it became rather pointless when she didn't have what to waste it for.

In her training sessions as a young child, she'd run out of physical strength almost always. Having to deal with constant muscle cramps had been painful and she despised every single one of those days.

After being assigned to her mission there was no longer a person to torture her, in the literal meaning of the word, and she had put her training in the background. She wasn't necessarily proud of that and preferred to refer to it as getting off of her intense regime, because her childhood **had** been intense.

She continued through the woods with a pace, almost unnoticeably slower than before.

* * *

Dai stopped in front of the thick trees, signifying the beginning of the forest, to catch his breath. He definitely needed to work on his stamina.

He looked ahead at the endless green area and wondered how on Earth he would find Amaya. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Maybe he had to ask for help; tell Iruka for example or at least his parents. They knew he'd be seeing Amaya and wouldn't make a fuss if he didn't come home. He was worried for her mother. It wouldn't surprise him if she went to his folks and said the two of them were missing. Letting that happen would be disastrous.

He sighed and continued in; he didn't have time to waste.

To his relief there was a well-trodden path from the constant flow of shinobi that was heading to or out of Konohagakure. Of course, it didn't mean that one couldn't digress, which would be perfect in case they wanted to **not** be seen, but Dai had always been an optimist and believed he should not stray.

Amaya had warned him about Kamiko from the very first moment she'd seen her. She had that inborn intuition for people and everything in general. Dai himself wasn't that straightforward and didn't like to judge without reason. Sure, the purple-haired lassie was strange and didn't know how to approach people (or just simply disliked Amaya) but when he had talked to her alone she didn't seem like the monster his best friend described her as.

Nevertheless, Dai had known Amaya for as long as he could remember and trusted her with his life. Especially after the incident with her memory he had stored a little suspicion for Kamiko and didn't want them to be near each other. He believed that Kamiko **was** dangerous for her and only the thought that she was with her in the woods at nighttime made his stomach hurt.

* * *

It was hard to distinguish different forms in the darkness let alone footsteps but one place was so noticeably disrupted it made Dai stop and inspect.

The grass surrounding the path was trampled more than it should've been. It wasn't just one or two steps but it appeared someone had stayed there for more than a few minutes.

He went closer to one of the trees and picked up a rope that had been derelict there. He had to bring it to mere centimeters to his eyes in order to see it clearly.

It wasn't quaint to find leftover ninja tools at such places, particularly in forests, where most battles were held. Dai had been lucky to not come across an old booby trap so far.

He made a mental note to be more careful.

The rope he was holding was definitely left here not long ago as no dirt or any othermarkings signified otherwise.

Dai looked up ahead and gulped hard – by continuing, he'd either find Amaya or someone else with way worse intentions.

* * *

_Amaya's POV:_

I put all the strength I had left in those last meters separating me and Kamiko. Since I'd closed on her and she had sensed me she slowed down as if she provoked me.

I didn't put much thought into my future moves because apparently it wasn't my style. Also, more importantly, I couldn't think and didn't actually had time to.

My current plan was simply to improvise.

"Kamiko!" I shouted. "Where are you going?"

She stopped and turned, her pearl white teeth almost glowing in the dark when she grinned.

"To tell Root everything I learned about you," she laughed. "Really you shouldn't have come after me, I would've sent someone to pick you up. And cage you."

"You are telling nothing."

"Ah, you know you are troublesome? I'm way too tired to deal with you."

She turned her back to me and continued to wherever she was going. Her gait was carefree; her body visibly relaxed.

I bent down and took the first thing I got hold of, which happened to be a rock. I threw it at her, the thing brushing a strand of her eggplant hair.

Kamiko stopped. She faced me with a sick glimmer in her eyes. Her chakra was fiercely spreading killer intent in the air.

I smelled the upcoming fight. A supposed member of Root, Danzo's organization for the dirty work of Konoha, versus me – an Academy graduate, carrying no weapons or **anything** for a fight.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, tension finally rises :D I hope the constant changing of the point of view didn't annoy you too much. 'till next time~


	9. Chapter Eight

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Eight

_3rd Person POV:_

Several hours after the point when most of the village of Konoha went to sleep, Genma finished his third tour around.

Normally, he'd be by the middle of the fourth for this time but it was such a night that required more attention than he could spare while sprinting. Not that it was a busy night, quite the opposite, it was utterly deserted just because Mother Nature had decided to defend alone against unwanted intruders.

The wind was sensibly stronger, relegating at least 10oC from the normal temperature but also, shaking the branches so hard it made it impossible to distinguish different forms or sounds. The moon was just a tiny little bit of light with the width of a hair under a cloudy sky, reducing the light to a minimum.

Even the well-trained eye focused hard and Genma was pretty sure even some wielders of the Byakugan would have trouble around here. He knew for certain that he could barely separate the trees from humans.

Unconsciously, he chewed tighter on his senbon. If someone was to make an ambush right now, highly likely due to the weather conditions, Genma wouldn't be able to do much against them. Depending on the number of 'them', of course. He wasn't the only Konoha shinobi patrolling as he knew for sure ANBU were situated on the borders, but he was alone in **this** part of the woods. No one ever came here.

Which was yet another reason to worry. Civillians, genin and even chunin didn't know about this unguarded spot and so did shinobi from other nations. Normally, even if they somehow found it, it wouldn't be problematic, because it was way too silent and open for infiltration or any of the sort missions.

If it somehow happened a foreigner to be aware of it **and** the weather forecast, however, it could become a weighty threat.

Genma made a mental note to inform the Hokage about this right after his shift was over.

* * *

_Amaya POV:_

I took a small step back, partly because I didn't want Kamiko to notice my fear but mostly because I was shaking so bad, a bigger step would just trip me over.

The killer intent emitting from Kamiko suffocated me.

My eyes hurt from trying to focus her in the pitch darkness but I couldn't bring myself to stop staring. And even with this big pressure on my eyes I failed to detect the unbelievably fast move of her hand. A kunai, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, was sent flying towards me.

In the last second I found the strength to move and the weapon just trimmed the ends of my hair.

"Come on, I didn't want to kill you!" Kamiko yelled. "But you are way too impudent." She tilted her head slightly. "You can still come voluntarily and spare some injuries, though."

I ran through my options mentally. Not that I had many.

I could indeed go with Kamiko and hope I find an opening to escape but I **didn't** want to. I had to shut her mouth. Running away way just made her job easier and offered me no more than a day to live. If she really was a part of the Foundation, which I believed her to be, I **had** to stop her from delivering the Intel.

My better choice was too stay here and fight her in an attempt to kill her.

I was going to die either way so let it at least be an honorable death.

My eyes wandered off to the kunai on the ground; it wasn't far from my reach.

"I don't know Kamiko," I took a step towards it. She, of course, noticed it and stiffened. "I don't feel like it!"

I jumped to grab it and she darted forwards.

I managed to get hold of it before her but she lay over me, pressing my hands to the ground.

She was damn strong for her skinny figure. And **fast**.

I glimpsed her bring her fist up to hit me and momently stirred to hit her supporting arm. She collapsed onto me and I pushed her to the side.

Jumping on my trembling legs I pointed the edge at her. She sulked, not seconds after, smirked.

My eyes widened at the sight of smoke at my feet and my heart skipped a beat when I felt something cold touch my neck.

"Clone Technique," Kamiko whispered behind me. "You should know it."

I gasped. I hadn't seen her forming signs.

'_No shame.' _

I hit her with my butt, pressing my head to my chest. The kunai cut through the air above.

I twisted and hit her in the waist, which she counterattacked by grabbing my arm and landing a right-hand.

My teeth interlocked, making a horrifying clack. A taste of blood filled my mouth.

Then, I remembered the kunai I still clung to and lashed at her. It was already too late as Kamiko had once again disappeared at light speed.

I looked around nervously. There was no trace of he-

Oh.

My legs felt weak and I once again fell on the ground, dropping the knife in the meantime.

It took a few seconds for the pain to finally bring me to my senses. I realized Kamiko was punching me straight in the face; a fist after fist. I felt my jaw crack and yet couldn't fight against her.

It continued some more time, which seemed far too long for me.

After all, it had probably been a better idea to follow her.

Suddenly, someone pounced right on top of Kamiko, pushing her a few meters away from me.

"AMAYA! Are you alright?"

I was disoriented but instantly recognized Dai's voice.

Shaking, I managed to sit up and wipe some blood from my mouth. I got up, getting just a bit dizzy, and staggered to Dai.

He had Kamiko in his grip in an attempt to calm her down. Probably.

She hissed, making an 180o turn. Her arms twisted in an odd way and cracked, leaving Dai with a horrified expression.

He hopped back to me.

"Can you explain me what's happening?" he asked.

"It's quite a long story," I answered, my voice hoarse.

"What's happening is that I now have to kill both of you!" Kamiko stated while setting her shoulders. Dai's eyes widened. "I wasn't actually going to use jutsu but…" She started making handsigns.

"Be aware now," I warned.

"**Wind Release: Air Bullets!" **

Both Dai and I dodged the first wave of deadly wind coming at us, however the second landed a deep scratch on my arm.

"God," I hissed in pain. "Shit just got serious."

Dai looked at me, accessing the wound.

"Here, catch that," he tossed a kunai at me. "I was ready for training." He explained after I shot him a confused look.

"**Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!" **

This time, the attack was too fast for both of us. It collided with our bodies, throwing us into separate trees that fell crashing down at the big impact.

I was surprised to find I hadn't broken all the bones in my body.

"Eat that!" she threw a kunai at each of us.

We rowed away, grunting and panting.

'_This won't end well,' _I bit my lip.

* * *

_3rd Person POV:_

Genma froze. He even held his breath in order to listen closely. This time he was sure he had heard something out of the ordinary.

There it was again – steps and crashing sticks, maybe some muted talking.

He was 67% sure it weren't tricks of his mind. Even if it was indeed a hallucination, he ought to check.

As he leapt in their direction, the sounds loudened and became clearer. Someone was fighting.

'_I knew it.' _Genma thought back to his disclosure about the incognito place.

He slowed down to make sure he wasn't noticed and hid behind a mass of bushes. It was tricky to hide but yet espionage in this darkness. He couldn't come nearer and from this position it was impossible to distinguish faces.

What he saw, and quite for certain too, was that the participants in the fight were three and they were all… **kids**.

At most they could be the recent graduates, Genma noted. They didn't put up a good fight - that was for sure. From what he could tell it was two against one and the pair was **losing**.

One of the kids, the only boy, bore a Konohagakure headband on his forehead. He showed some taijutsu skill whenever he got close to the enemy. Most of his blows didn't land unless the raven-haired girl didn't interfere and help him. She was a bit more reserved in the fight but Genma suspected it was rather due to exhaustion than unwillingness. From what he could hear, she gave tips to her male friend, which contained information about the other girl.

"…special training...," he managed to overhear.

His gaze stopped on the all-black-clad girl and he took the time to observe her fighting style.

Her fighting style was indeed…different. It definitely wasn't what they taught in the Academy, not in Konoha and not in other nations. A not well educated man would consider it a clan style but Genma recognized it as something much worse.

Two fresh genin were fighting against a member of the Foundation.

Genma almost facepalmed at his luck. Those were the situations, whose guts he hated. They required a lot of careful thought before any move and usually went together with a bad headache.

Well, Genma's head didn't hurt (yet) but he also didn't know how the hell those kids messed with Root.

He could simply jump straight in the fight and question the brats but he doubt they'd say anything. Plus, he ought to call ANBU in such a situation, which was a bad idea – ANBU and Root didn't go well.

The jonin didn't want to cause more tension between the Sandaime and Danzo.

For all he knew, this could just be a stupid misunderstanding between the three children.

Genma settled for a bit more surveillance. He'd interrupt only if things got lethal.

They did eventually.

Danzo's girl had been cautious with the other lassie but **obviously** tried to kill the boy. He had been close two times and after the third Genma decided it was time to stop this madness.

Which, mind you, did not mean he'd go there and stop them.

"_Genma, you've been serving Lord Fourth and me good. You should really consider taking a step back and perhaps surpass your skills to the new generation."_

Genma got bitter just by thinking about the offer the Hokage had given him earlier this month. He was a tokubetsu jonin - he wasn't meant to be a jonin leader, damn it! His fears had justified when he had seen the graduates for the next year. He knew Ebisu, his former teammate and a tokubetu jonin as well, was taking on a team but the guy was his complete opposite. While the four-eyed man enjoyed showing his superiority in front of the confused newbies, Genma preferred to stay as far away from them as possible

Genma might be too proud to confess he needed a break but he for certain wasn't going on D-ranks with a group of uncoordinated, stuck up and ill-mannered brats.

He turned his attention back to the fight.

'_Alright then.' _

He came closer soundlessly, choosing his position carefully. Just a few meters in front of him, the trio didn't suspect a thing. He drew a spare needle from his pouch and waited for the right moment. Effortlessly, he threw it at the purple-haired girl, aiming for the tenketsu in her shoulder.

Before Kamiko felt anything, Genma had already shunshined to another hiding spot. From there he observed how she grabbed her arm, unsuccessfully trying to regain control over it.

With that little intervention the other kids should win this fight.

They had potential, Genma admitted.

* * *

I wiped away the sweat from my forehead with a shaky hand.

Dai and I were pathetically hiding in the crown of a tree. It was actually quite praiseworthy that we managed to escape her for a second in the first place.

As a matter of fact we wouldn't have been able if just about a moment ago something hadn't happened to her arm. Suddenly, Kamiko had made an abrupt turn to stare in the nothing, clutching her shoulder.

Now, the limb looked kind of **useless **and she was disoriented.

"What do you think happened?" Dai whispered curiously.

I shrugged, "No idea but it's in our favor. Our only chance is to take her by surprise."

Dai nodded.

"Here's what we'll do…" I continued.

* * *

Kamiko didn't take **too** much time to spot us. I jumped down just when her eyes landed on our branch.

"Look K-Kamiko," I faltered. "I will come with you, just let Dai go."

She judged me with a glance, then, smirked.

"I don't think so. You know, unlike you, I am not stupid."

She made a rapid turn and caught Dai's kunai.

The brunette gaped in mild shock as she threw him high in the air with a chakra-enhanced blow.

I hurried to hit her while she was with her back to me. Pulling her hair as hard as I could, I concentrated all my strength in my fist.

I had never actually hit a person this way in both my lives but I was proud of what I'd just accomplished.

I felt Kamiko's teeth under her skin and heard her jaw crack. A few drops of her blood splattered on my cheek as she lurched to the side.

"Now!" I shouted on top of my lungs.

She instantly looked up in the direction she had just sent Dai and shock graced her face.

"Damn you!" she hissed. "A Bunshin."

Finally crawling out of the hiding spot, Dai threw a bunch of shuriken at her. They were all baring an almost invisible but super strong string.

Skillfully, though a bit unsecure, Dai tied them around Kamiko, tightening them enough to restrict any movement.

I went closer and drew my own kunai. I pointed it at her at looked in her eyes.

My hand trembled.

"Faster, Amaya," Dai's voice echoed.

I grit my teeth and stabbed her, right in the heart. Its position was the lone thing I remembered from anatomy classes.

A trickle of blood ran down from her mouth.

"Oh my God," I instantly drew back like stung and collapsed on the ground.

Dai came to me and hugged me from behind. He didn't say anything just held me.

I was shaking; trying hard not to burst out in tears. The feel of cutting through flesh was still roaming in my consciousness.

'_That's what had to be done. There was no other way out of the situation!'_ I kept repeating to myself.

I and only I was responsible for this mess and the worst part was I had accidentally dragged Dai in it.

* * *

I paced nervously back and forth, trying unsuccessfully to calm my shit down.

I **did** manage to dump my moral and conscience and forgive myself for taking a human life but the fact that there was a **dead** body to deal with was no calming.

"Okay, maybe we should just leave her here," I finally said, a lot more uncertainly than I thought I'd sound.

"But they will find her here! And track us down! Didn't you mention she worked for the bad guys? We will die!" At least Dai didn't care for such things as hiding emotion.

"Oh come on, how are they going to link us with the murder? This is not CSI. Look around, nobody saw us."

"CS-what?" Dai looked at me confused.

I sighed, "Nothing."

Sometimes I forgot that those references don't work in here.

I looked back at Kamiko's corpse and gaged.

Over the years I had, I admit, thought about killing someone. I even wanted to on multiple occasions. What I have never considered was that I was still a normal human, although a bit messed up, and killing a person, as in deprive him/her of the right of living, was not in my nature.

What a great time to realize I thought as a very human not a ninja.

Even right now I was looking at this situation like it'd be looked at in the normal world. Police, criminalists, evidence, charge, prison; this procedure didn't work here.

ANBU's work didn't include collecting fingerprints or hairs from the crime scene or at least I wasn't aware of that. In which case, I was just tying the knot of the rope around Dai's and my neck by insisting on leaving the body.

Back to rational thinking, I was now in a universe where killing people was actually the most mainstream, and honorable, job.

If the wild beasts didn't eat her and someone stumbled across her, he'd just ignore it. Right?

It was a valid argument if she had been any normal kunoichi but she was far from that. Her immediate connection with Root suggested we'd get in serious trouble.

But that was a given even if we buried the body.

I didn't know how much information Kamiko had for me or how much she shared with Danzo. I didn't know what had her mission been or for how long she suspected me. I also didn't knew how Root worked.

I had a feeling that deceased members on missions were not a big deal. After all, Danzo can't afford to care **this** deeply for his people.

Only, the possibility of the existence of a girl that knew the future was a BIG deal, I assumed. It should be. If Danzo knew even a bit of the story he'd go after me on the second.

"But I did see you."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Genma…"

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter was a pain to write. Apologies if it's complete crap and also for the long wait. I hope the next one goes up quicker. Please review to let me know what you think~


	10. Chapter Nine

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Nine

"You know my name?" Genma quirked a brow at me. "I am pleased...I guess."

"I overheard it somewhere," I slurred over the situation. "Uh..." I threw a subtle look at Kamiko's body and shivered.

Somewhere behind me Dai sounded like an asthmatic.

Genma looked like he had debate with himself for the stupidest thing like whether to play the bad or good jonin. Throwing a second thought at it, this was probably the exact reason.

"You know, I saw your little situation here," Despite being mildly amused with the whole thing, Genma retained his stoic expression. "From what I saw, I can classify your acts as a premeditated murder and it's my duty to bring you before the court of Konohagakure."

I shuddered. This was **not** supposed to go this way.

"No! You can't!" Dai shrieked. "She was trying to kill us, not the opposite!"

"Guilty until proven innocent," the jonin stated flatly.

I was biting my lip so hard I tasted blood.

My position right now was delicate. I had to get Dai out of the mess without revealing too much information. In other words I had to come up with a fast lie, good enough to fool an experienced shinobi.

"She lured me in the forest in an attempt to kill me without attracting attention," I began by sharing part of the truth. "We were **defending** ourselves."

"You said she was trying to kill you," Genma directed his question at me. "Why would she want that?"

"I defeated her in a spar," I said and shrugged.

Dai's jaw dropped, whereas Genma **laughed** at me.

Well, I at least amused him with my lies.

"Really? Murder attempt seems a little too** harsh **because of a defeat."

"You know them Root members – they get grumpy when their ass is handed to them," I waved my hand dismissively.

The former member of Team Choza put on his serious expression again.

"How do you know she was a Root member?"

"Well, she said it multiple times, while firing jonin-level jutsu at me and my friend." Yet another truth was spoken. Kind of.

"We are in big trouble, aren't we?" Dai asked.

"If what she said is true, and it seems really legit," he gave me a look. "You might just get away with it. You are genin right?"

We nodded.

"Who is your jonin instructor?"

"Uh, he didn't tell us his name," Dai admitted.

Genma hummed, "I see. Look technically killing a person is in your right BUT only if he is a threat to our village. Root isn't. You will be held responsible in one way or another." He continued after we remained silent. "My shift is almost over." He looked up at the first few rays of sun breaking the darkness. "I will go and talk to the Hokage and summon you in his office. And while this happens you will bury the girl."

"What? Here?" I asked, while Genma took out a containment scroll from his pouch. "If she is a shinobi of Konoha shouldn't she be interred in the graveyard?"

"Not exactly, since she didn't die** in** the village. Also, Root does not work this way – a shinobi stays wherever he falls. I don't expect you to understand it."

He handed us each a shovel.

I raised my brows, surprised that they carry even those in their scrolls.

"Why bother to bury her then?" Dai asked, sounding much more confident than before.

I guessed he took a breather after hearing we won't go to jail. Maybe.

"Who said I approve of Root's policy? And you have to start your punishment from somewhere, after all. You better be ready when I come back."

With that he shunshined away.

I stared at the smoke until it completely dispersed and then looked at Dai. Our eyes met for a split second before he turned and began digging.

* * *

Sweat had long ago broke on our foreheads, dripping from the edge of our noses on the freshly dug land. My hands were feeling numb and were covered with blisters. The sun had almost settled completely but thank God it didn't warm up.

On top of that we had dug no more than 30 cm in complete silence between us.

Dai gave a puff, then, dropped the shovel and retreated in the thick shadow of a tree. I continued despite the protest of my muscles.

"Why did Kamiko want to kill you? Really," he asked in a monotone.

I raised my head, swiped the sweat with a dirty palm and got back to work.

I tried to not make it seem like a big deal, although I was a ball of nerves in the inside.

I knew the time had come for Dai to learn the truth.

"She didn't really want to kill me; she wanted to abduct me."

"Why?"

"She managed to get vital Intel out of me and, I guess, wanted to bring me as proof."

"Bring you?" Dai parroted. "To that Danzo guy?"

I nodded.

"I've heard of him. He is the leader of the Foundation, ne? Not a man you want to mess with. What the hell have you told her?"

I dropped my shovel and sat next to Dai.

"Okay," I began counting on my fingers. "We've been friends for around 10 years. Can I trust you that whatever I say now will stay only and forever between us?" I looked around just in case someone was nearby.

"Uh, I- I don't know what you're about to say," Dai stuttered.

"It's serious," I looked straight into his raspberry eyes. "If you don't think you can keep it a secret-"

"No!" he shouted, then, lowered his voice. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

"Okay then," I sighed, wondering how to present the story of my life in the appropriate way. "I am not exactly like you or the other here."

Dai gave me a skeptic look.

"Do you believe in the multiverse theory?"

"The what?"

"Do you believe you can be reborn into another universe? Even if it's fictional?" I tried a different approach.

"Fictional? You mean like in the, uh, fairytails?"

I nodded.

"I don't really," he answered.

"Well, then, believe it!"

'_Oh God I sound like Naruto now…' _

"You sound like Naruto," Dai stated.

I sweat-dropped, "Wasn't intentional."

"So what about this whole universe thing?"

"Ah that," I looked up at the sky. "Since you don't believe in it, this will sound like complete bullshit to you, but…I had been reborn in here."

Dai's eyes widened, though there was a hint of doubt on his face, which I assumed was normal, even expected.

"Where we live in right now… there was a show – an anime, about it. The story revolved mainly around Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura but also Konoha and other nin."

"Wow. I suspected these three would be trouble but to have a show about it? Were we in it?"

"No. Most of the people here aren't," I skipped my suspicion that we could've indeed been there in the Academy, even though shown for the briefest moment, because I'd just confuse him completely. "It's pretty complicated."

"Okay now," Dai rose his hand up in a gesture I didn't get. "You are telling me you'd died and been reborn and kept the memories of your past life. Also, from wherever you come, you have a show about out world. Is that right?"

"Exactly."

Dai laughed.

Then, after I continued to look at him, wondering if I did well by telling him, he regained his seriousness.

"And you told that to Kamiko, who ran – tried to run, to her boss immediately? I get it's a curios but why was it so important to her that she risked her life?"

"That's what they teach them in Root. She wanted to let Danzo know, because I told her the precious Intel." Dai was staring at me blankly. "Remember the show? I've watched it till the end. Therefore I know what's going to happen in the future."

"Oh," he finally let out. "If a member of Root was so convinced in your story, then it must be true. Wow."

I smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry I lied to you."

"No, it's alright," Dai said as he put his hand behind the head and leaned on the tree. "Tell me something from the future."

"Dai, you understand you should not tell anyone about it now, do you? You saw what happened the last time someone learned the truth," I glanced at Kamiko.

"Yeah, I do. As promised, I will keep your secret."

He, then, got up and went back to the digging. I followed him.

"You said we are not in the show. So you don't know our future?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Only certain people."

"Geez, what could be so interesting about this Team 7?"

"Oh, thrust me," I laughed. "It is **very** interesting."

* * *

The Sandaime exhaled slowly.

He was getting too old for all of this.

"And you aided them in killing her?" Sarutobi wanted to be absolutely aware of **all** details before adjudicating something.

"I blocked her shoulder tenketsu to stop her from killing **them**. I did not expect they'd murder her," Genma said. He had come to the Hokage's office no more than ten minutes ago and narrated everything.

"I see," the Hokage nodded.

What was he supposed to do in this situation?

If it were grown-up men that Genma talked about, he wouldn't be surprised of the situation. Being a ninja held many cons, one of them - making some enemies. If right now the jonim standing before him said Root was after him, Sarutobi would say it's normal. During their years of duty jonin, especially, have done things quite inhumane.

There were hundreds and thousands scenarios where such ninja could be justified and respectively accused.

However, the kids were another thing - a much more delicate situation.

Why was Root chasing them, the girl in concrete, and why did they go as far as to commit a homicide?

Sure Danzo's ways of protecting the village were questionable. The Sandaime had held a long argument with his former teammate but had given up years ago. One simply couldn't impose his own ideals upon others.

The Hokage was aware Danzo took innocent kids' childhood and ripped it away from them in order to make them his, straight-forwardly said, slaves. He couldn't do anything against it, even if he wanted it so badly.

Surely, the other two participants in the fight had right to kill. But for God's sake, they had just graduated the Academy yesterday! (They hadn't even taken their jonin test so not properly graduated either.)

When did Konoha get so ruthless?

"Hokage-sama, may I ask you something. It's more of a request," Genma asked.

"Go ahead."

"I've been thinking over what you said to me about taking a step back. This night I saw skill and teamwork in those two children. If it's possible, depending on your punishment for them, could I take them as apprentices?"

Sarutobi looked up at Genma. He hummed, then, leaned in his chair.

"I can't answer your question just yet but I'll take into account your request. I shall summon you later. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," said the jonin before shunshing away.

The Sandaime didn't have time to take a nice deep breath before another person came in his office.

Uninvited yet expected.

"Danzo," the Hokage murmured. "I guessed you'd come."

"You aren't planning on freeing those kids from guilt, are you, Hiruzen?" Danzo didn't waste time in little games.

"My hands are tied unless, of course, you tell me why your student was after them."

"You know perfectly well I can't do that," Danzo faked a sorrow expression.

"I am the Hokage," Sarutobi remarked. "You ought to."

"And I am one of the village Elders, in case you forgot," he muttered. "I am in my right to not share classified information."

The Sandaime sighed. Indeed was he old for this.

"In that case you shouldn't protest when I **do** justify the kids."

"They killed a member of mine!" Danzo opened his eye in rage as he raised his voice.

"Because she tried to kill them," Sarutobi stood up. "And I have a witness; don't even think of lying."

Danzo growled, murmuring something in the line of 'taking care alone'.

"Don't touch the kids," Sarutobi warned.

His old friend threw him a last glare and went out of the cabinet.

The Nidaime's student sat back in his chair and turned to look out of the big window. The village was still waking up.

He had to summon Genma back here bit chose to wait. He needed to leave his mind rest for a bit.

* * *

"Should we do something else? Like say something?"

I gave Dai and odd look, "Like what?" I continued in a whisper. "Kamiko was a nice girl and always looked after us when she wasn't trying to murder us."

"She won't hear you, you know," Dai, then, shrugged. "I was just suggesting."

Kamiko's body was already in its grave with as much soil over it as possible. It didn't look natural nor like a proper grave or a bump. Actually, it was a little below the other ground and I was beginning to worry we hadn't dug her deep enough. I sure as hell didn't want someone to stumble across her decaying body, which had reappeared after a little strong wind.

"Is it good enough?" I wondered aloud.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Okay, we need more earth," I concluded.

"No time for that," a somewhat familiar voice said.

My heart skipped a beat.

Dai and I turned in unison to the source and sighed in relief once we saw it was only Genma.

"The Hokage has summoned us," he continued, looking indifferent to our reactions.

"That's great," Dai said sarcastically. "Which direction?" He pointed his finger around.

"How cute," Genma stated before grabbing him and me and shunshing to the Hokage's.

* * *

Not a moment later we found ourselves in front of the Hokge's office, which I recognized from the anime.

I noted that even Genma couldn't just randomly appear in and disturb Konoha's leader. He was just about to knock when the door opened and almost slammed him in the face.

A certain whiskered blond flashed past us, chuntering something about stupid photo policy. He was so fast round the corner, the chances were he didn't even notice us.

No one seemed to give him a second glance, however, so I kept the comment I was going to make to myself.

In the meantime, Genma had asked permission to enter and was waving us in.

I felt my heartbeat fasten. This was the highest yet point in lying I had to reach. Hiding the truth from my mother and Dai, up until now, was easy but doing so in front of the Hokage himself was trickier. I had had enough time to put together a nice story and make sure it sounded realistic but I wasn't, and had never been, a convincing liar when under pressure.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk with his hands crossed and rested on it and an un-burning pipe in his mouth. He eyed both me and Dai before clearing his throat and turning to Genma.

"Have they completed their task?" he asked.

"Poorly but yes," Genma answered.

"Good," he turned his glance back at us. "Genma-san told me about your past night. Rough, wasn't it? I'd now want to hear your side of the story." He signed to me to start explaining.

"Well, Kamiko had always had something against me," I began confidently, ignoring the sweat that was building up on my forehead. "But I ignored it, since I didn't want to cause myself headaches. Yesterday, I defeated her in what had to be a friendly spar. She seemed cool at first, even acted friendly and all. We talked and stayed `till late. She lured me into the forest, where I know I shouldn't have gone." I lowered my voice on the last sentence to sound ashamed. "And once we were deep enough she began acting violently, as you can see." I pointed to my swollen face. "She definitely wanted to kill me."

"I see," Sarutobi shook his head in understanding. "How did you know she was from Root?"

"She said it more than once during the fight," I stated simply, knowing he tested if what I'd initially told Genma matched this story.

"Okay," he looked at Dai. "Your turn."

I wasn't sure Dai was going to be okay with lying so I made sure he didn't have to.

"Like Amaya said, there was tension between her and Kamiko so after she was late for training and I learned she had last been seen with Kamiko I went after their trail."

"Do you train together every day?" the Hokage asked.

"Not really. We had it arranged the day before."

"And how did you know your friend was with the girl from Root? Did you see them leave the Academy together?"

"No, I left earlier, because I had to clean my room. I never saw their spar. And uh," Dai scratched his head. "Naruto told me where and with who he'd last seen her."

The Sandaime's eyes twitched at the mentioning of the troublesome blond but he restrained himself.

"Alright," he said more to himself than to us and sighed. "Genma."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I entrust the kids to you," Dai and I shared a look. "Make sure you teach them well and keep them away from trouble. By all evidence it seems that they are innocent, however I do **not** encourage the murder of other villagers, Root or not." He looked me straight in the eye. I shivered. "Am I clear?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Dai and I said in unison.

"Thank you," I added.

"Now go back home, soothe your worried parents and don't, by any means, talk with anyone on the roads. What happened last night will stay in that part of the forest forever and you should NOT tell this story to anyone. Even your parents."

"Hai," we said and went out.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

"You forgot to mention those are kids from **that** village, Genma," Sarutobi said seriously when he made sure the kids couldn't hear them.

"I didn't know it was important, sir."

"You have one more task-"

* * *

**A/N: **I'm getting more and more inconsistent with the updates *blushes* Sorry about that guys. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway. Please, let me know what you think by leaving a review. `Till next time~


	11. Chapter Ten

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Ten

"I have one more task for you," the Hokage said. "While you teach them, want it or not, you will get close with the kids. Try to find out what's special about them because something apparently is. Even if it's just the slightest clue or the most bizarre idea, let me know."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Also, do you believe their story?" he asked, resting his chin on crossed hands.

"The boy's story seems alright. We can always ask Naruto to be sure. And as for Amaya," Genma began. "I thought it might have happened this way but since you think their village has something to do with the incident... I have to give her credit for bravery, though. I wouldn't have dared to lie in front of the Hokage."

"There is something about her, true. That's why I want you to be extra careful in inquiring information."

"I understand."

"Protect the kids, Genma," Sarutobi said finally. "Dismissed."

"Will do, Hokage-sama," the jonin nodded.

* * *

"So what do you know about that Genma guy?"

I threw Dai a questioning look. It took me a while to realize what he meant.

"Well, he wasn't a character that showed up too much. He seems to be okay but I can't tell you anything for certain."

Dai's face shaded. I thought it was because of my answer but then I looked ahead of me and saw Taichi amongst the crowd. He was heading in our direction.

It was around noon and a lot of people buzzed around in the streets making it tricky to fulfil what we'd been told and not communicate.

Dai suddenly cursed.

"What?" I asked.

"The final test! We had to be there exactly at 7 today! We failed," he then added silently. "And screwed Taichi as well."

"Oh shit."

I had completely forgotten about the stupid test. (Not that we could show up even if we **had** remembered.)

"You idiots!" the third member of our team screamed, finger pointing at us. A few bypassing people turned to look at the scene.

_'There goes that 'no talk' warning.'_

"Sensei plucked me because of you!" A vein was popping up on his forehead. "How can you be so calm, you bastards! I will murder you, I swear!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Dai put a hand on his shoulder, which he pushed away. "We didn't choose not to come."

"Yeah, really? I'm pretty sure you wanted to screw me up, because you hate me! Well, guess what - I don't like you either," he clapped his hands. "And I will make sure I make your next year at the Academy hell!"

"I'm sure you will," I waved goodbye as he stormed past us. "Really, we are sorry!"

I, then, pushed Dai forward to make him speed up and avoid the odd stares of the crowd.

* * *

I gulped hard and pushed the door handle down, imagining the expression on my mom's face ones she sees me. I didn't know if anyone had told her something or if she was kept in the dark. I also couldn't decide which of the above would be the better scenario.

I entered the living room and closed the door behind me soundlessly. My mother stood by the sink, polishing the porcelain cups, probably in an attempt to take her mind off of her anxiety.

"Mom?" I spoke unsurely.

She looked up and at me, eyeing me from head to toe until a sorrow expression graced her face.

"Aya," she uttered and came closer, pulling me in a tight hug from which my ribs cracked in protest. "You scared me to death!"

"I'm sorry, mom," I said, while breaking the hug, and wondered what more to tell her.

Thankfully, she continued before I revealed what I shouldn't have.

"Genma-san – I think was his name – told me you and Dai got lost in the woods," she explained, then, added much more strictly. "Don't you listen to your teachers when they warn you not to enter alone?"

I smiled weakly to cover up my astonishment. As it turns out Genma was just as bad of a liar as I was or, as I liked to refer to it, clever enough to know the wildest lies worked the best.

"Are you hungry?" my mother wailed. "You are so pale." She turned around and opened the fridge, listing all the food in it.

"No, mom, I'm fine. … _Thank you, I'm not hungry_," I stressed after she showed no sign she'd heard me.

She, however, continued ignoring me stubbornly, and placed a bowl of soup on the table.

"It's vegetable soup so it's going to taste good even if cold," she explained.

I looked at the dish and, disgusted, convinced myself further that I didn't have appetite.

"Thanks mom but I'd prefer to go to bed," I said, not for a moment losing my subtle smile.

She looked at me, then, blinked a few times and finally said, "Oh okay. Get some rest."

I hurried into my room and sprawled on the bed. Of course, I wasn't really planning to sleep. As it went, I probably wouldn't be getting any sleep soon.

The moment I laid my head on the pillow, tears began streaming down my cheeks. They were uncontrollable.

My life here wasn't supposed to take this route!

I turned to one side and let my mind wander back to the moment I stabbed Kamiko.

The memory was still freshly locked in my mind and in my hand, which went numb when I tried to squeeze it in a fist. My ears could still catch the sound of the kunai piercing her flesh.

I shuddered and closed my eyes tightly shut. I tried to shove the feeling out of my head, quite unsuccessfully. When I, finally, concentrated on the events past the murder – I got goose bumps again - I only choked on my tears that were falling faster than ever. My neck muscles were straining from the effort I put to not let a sound out and compromise Genma's lie.

I had revealed my secret to Dai.

It hurt me this much because I couldn't bring myself to believe in him. I just didn't feel safe with the promise he had made. Promises could be broken easy. I knew Dai well but I didn't know what lay in the blood of the Narutoverse people. I knew that people from my world were completely capable of giving away anything for their own benefit. I'd experienced it and the bitter memory was locked so deep into my brain I didn't have the ability to change it anymore.

Dai, my best friend, I was certain, still didn't know what power he had with this knowledge. If I could just protect him, not let him be tempted.

'_Yeah, this sounds like a nice plan.'_

Despite the ridiculousness of it, I managed to take a few deep breaths and, lying on my back again, stopped crying. My eyes hurt and I had a lump in my throat but I felt _happy_. The Hokage himself protected me so why was I so stressed?

'_Yeah, I have nothing to worry about.'_

I slept the entire day and night and woke up early on the next morning. I tossed around the bed for a while and deemed I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and stopped to inspect. My eyes were puffy from the crying, my hair disheveled and my clothes ripped, stained with dirt and blood. My cheekbones were swollen from the beating, although surprisingly – and luckily – it wasn't conspicuous.

Turns out my round face had its pros after all.

Without hesitating, I jumped in the shower and allowed myself a good half an hour to chill under the cool water.

I went in the kitchen/living room and saw my mother seated on the sofa, reading a book. Her eyes shot up at me and she momentarily put it away.

"Morning, Aya," she stood up and fixed her hair. "Are you feeling better now?"

I raised my brow subtly but decided not to bother with her odd behavior now. The book, I glimpsed with my peripheral vision, she had put faced down on the table.

"Yeah, a bit," I finally answered.

She nodded and hurried to the fridge with a determined look. I was about to reject her attempts when my stomach made an angry knurring sound and I realized it was aching - the last time I ate something was a foggy memory.

While I ate my meal, furiously stuffing the food in my mouth and not even chewing it before swallowing, she took the book, carefully pinning it to her chest so I couldn't read the title, and put it away in her bedroom. She came back and carefully observed me finishing it in a totally un-girly manner.

I saw the disapproval written on her face when I pushed the dish away from me. A few oddly awkward seconds passed in which we stared at each other before I spoke again.

"I think I'll go check on Dai."

"Alright," she agreed. "Just don't stay there for too long."

I nodded and headed out.

I was greeted by Dai's mother at their apartment door and she kindly invited me in. Like awhile back, she offered me breakfast and I had to reject, because I was full.

"Dai is still in his room. You can go if you want but he might be sleeping."

"Okay, I'll be careful," I assured Mrs. Izumi. "Thank you."

Dai's room was situated exactly below mine - something I realized just now we could use to signal each other.

I cracked the door and glimpsed inside.

As a boy, Dai didn't really keep his room clean. But because he had to clean it three days ago, (I realized it had passed just so little time since the accident, yet it felt like more) I found it odd the floor was messy.

I entered the room and as I saw he was sleeping, closed the door cautiously to prevent it from making any sounds.

Unlike me, it seemed Dai had remembered to take all the dirty clothes off and now they were lying in a pile on the floor. The room also had the distant aroma of male shower gel.

I stared at him a few seconds more than what I'd be comfortable with if he was awake and felt my cheek burn ever so slightly. Needless to say, I felt like a creep - staying in a room darkened by blinds and staring at a sleeping person. Although in my case it was more like gazing.

Dai's brown locks were spread on the pillow, one strand covering his cheek, tempting to be moved away. My eyes went down and this time around, I blushed heavily. He was naked or at least bare-chested in bed.

My past self instantly judged me for enjoying the view of a kid, years younger than me. Then again in reality, Dai was older than me with two months. The thought made me feel a bit better and I smirked to myself.

He moved a bit and slowly opened his eyes. Scowling sleepily he sat on the bed and looked at me expectantly.

"Good morning," I greeted and gave him a toothy grin. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"It's alright," he murmured with a raspy voice.

He pushed the covers away and got up, revealing that, yes, he wore only shorts.

Something deep in me purred.

Ashamed, I hurriedly looked down at my feet, like they were suddenly very interesting.

"Why are you here so early?" Dai, who was currently putting on a T-Shirt, asked after checking the time.

"I just wanted see how you were," I mumbled. "Also, I expect Genma to contact us anytime and didn't want to give him a bad impression."

"What worse impression can he get than _seeing us kill a person_," he whispered the last words.

I choked back a laugh.

And my presumptions did turn out to be correct. Soon after Dai and I joined his parents to have breakfast, (for someone the second one already), Genma knocked on the front door.

"Oh, you are both here. That's great!" he seemed full of enthusiasm. "You look ready to go, don't you? Come with me."

He led us outside and, to my surprise, we walked to one of the training grounds.

"Why didn't we shunshin?" I wondered aloud.

"You are too inexperienced to shunshin so often," he said half-serious-half-proudly. "I also hope you remembered the route because you will train here every day."

Dai and I both stayed silent, which the jonin apparently interpreted as a confirmation.

"Good. Now to clear out some things. I will not treat you like other jonin instructors because you are not a three-man team. Obviously," he chuckled. "As you should remember, you failed to even attempt your sensei's test and now you should've signed documents for the Academy again. I don't want you to feel like you got away so I'll make sure these lessons are hell for you."

There was that thing about Genma - he could change from easygoing and humorous to serious and strict by the second.

"You will also rarely go on missions unlike your nine coevals, who managed to graduate," he continued. "As for what we are doing today." He took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket. "We will start with the basics and that's determining your chakra nature."

I got excited about the idea and looked at the little chakra papers with interest. Then something occurred to me.

"Aren't we a little too young for that?" I asked. "I mean to perform jutsu other than the basics."

Genma raised a brow at me.

"Why do you think so?"

"Well, um, we can't... mold the perfect amount of chakra and," I stuttered, trying to remember what Kakashi had told Team 7.

"You have no idea. I'm the teacher so I decide if you are ready or not," he said coldly. "Now take one - if you dare." He spread them in front of us like cards. "If your paper turns to ash, it means you have Fire affinity. If it splits in two, your nature is Wind. If it wrinkles – Lightning. If it crumbles away – Earth and, finally, if the paper becomes wet – you have Water Release."

I noticed my hand was shaking when I reached for a piece. Dai looked pretty astonished as well.

Unconsciously, while I held the trembling paper, I closed my eyes and thought: what chakra nature would I want? Fire was the most common for the Land of Fire, obviously, and it sounded good enough. I knew Wind was the rarest and feared Genma wouldn't know what to teach me. Water and Earth were both boring. Lightning was probably the coolest out there. Simply out of curiosity I wanted to know the feel of the charge running down my hand and there was so much more to it. Maybe I could someday learn Chidori? Yeah, definitely cool.

I opened my eyes and looked at the paper. At first look, it seemed to be safe and sound. Then, when I moved it a bit I felt it was damp.

I scowled for a second but had to conceal it before Genma saw me; I just don't think he would've taken it well to see me hating on my chakra nature. Instead, I glanced at Dai's crumbled paper.

We got the two boring chakra natures.

"Okay then," Genma concluded after checking both of our results. "Now I want to see your chakra control."

He led us to an area of greenery on the training ground, which was obviously split in that for field training and cemented space for sparring. Just a minute ago we were standing on the latter, now we were situated under the impressively thick shadow of the trees.

"Okay now, climb that tree," Genma ordered, sounding a bit too sure we wouldn't be able.

With a smug grin Dai and I began climbing to the top without too much effort. I didn't want to disconcentrate myself by looking at Genma's expression but I could particularly hear his mouth gape.

We jumped back down with ease and stood before him, waiting for further exercises.

He cleared his throat and hid his scowl, "Impressive. I will skip leaf sticking in that case," and he grinned like a child that had been offered candy. "How are you with walking on water?"

He aimed the question at me particularly as I had Water affinity.

"Not good, I suppose," I answered.

"We haven't really tried," Dai added.

"This will be your first lesson then. Follow me," Genma said and sank deeper in the woods.

As it turned out they were a shortcut to the river.

"I suppose you know the theory?" Genma asked, crossing his arms.

I nodded.

"Push chakra to feet," Dai recited.

I silently cursed my choice to shower this morning. There was no way on Earth I managed from the first try.

I was right.

To begin with it was damn hard to gather the right amount of chakra. (Not that I could control how much went to my feet.) Then, it was tricky to step on the water, because it felt like jelly underneath our chakra enhanced soles. It was slippery and wavy and the fact that I didn't know when I'll flop in the water didn't help either.

However, Dai didn't seem to have those troubles. All he had to do was try the surface by pressing his foot on the water and putting different weight. After just a bloody minute he was walking freely, like Jesus himself.

The rest of the lesson, with other words the rest of the **day**, turned out really wet for me. My personal record was now five steps from the shore; five very, very slow and controlled steps. There was no doubt that my leg muscles were going to hurt from straining but I felt my mouth had taken the new natural position of a pout. When I kept falling, again and again, Dai and Genma could hardly hide their amusement and were still clutching their stomachs as we went home.

"We will continue with the same exercise tomorrow," Genma said. "I suggest you bring a second pair of clothes, Amaya."

I glimpsed Dai hold back a laugh.

"Dai, I will find something to keep you occupied too, don't worry," he added.

The last hard thing I had to do that night was to choose between sleep and food.

I didn't feel hunger while I slept like a baby.

* * *

**A/N: **I am still alive in case you wondered... Thank you for the patience ^^


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Night Rain**  
Chapter Eleven

When Dai and I had to find our way to the training ground alone the next day we were late with half an hour. At times like this I wished Kakashi had been our teacher. Genma took it way too seriously and didn't as much as move a muscle while I fell in the water for the umpteenth time. He had given Dai a simple Doton Jutsu to try and left him to fail alone, while he observed me with a frown.

"Okay, stop for a second," he finally told me. "You can climb a tree effortlessly, which I always thought was the harder exercise, but can't walk on water. I just don't get it."

"I don't get it either," I said while squeezing my hair.

"Can you swim?" he suddenly asked and I dropped the strand I was trying to dry.

"I think so?" I said furrowing my brows. "Yes."

As Amaya I hadn't been to a pool, a river or a see to 'learn' how to swim. At the same time, swimming was a skill like walking and running, which should be locked in my muscle memory no matter how many lives I've lived and since I once learned how, I came to the conclusion I should be able to swim now too.

"Okay," Genma shook his head. "What do you find so hard?"

"Well," I began, having been waiting for a chance to complain. "The water wouldn't stop moving under my feet. It's like a nasty jelly; like walking in mud. The trees stay pretty solid when I try to walk on them."

"Well then, infuse more chakra!" Genma suddenly shouted, getting Dai's attention, like that was the most obvious thing.

I scowled, feeling humiliated and exceptionally stupid, and went back to the coast with reluctance.

I tried again, this time putting twice more effort in transporting the chakra. At first, when I stepped on the water, it felt so hard I thought I'd slip. It was like using ice skates for the first time. I put some more weight to that leg and closed my eyes.

'_You can't slip,' _I kept repeating. _'It's like stepping on hard ground.'_

I've made around 5-6 steps before I couldn't stand it any longer and fell in the water. The feeling from the walking was different this time, due to the difference in the chakra amount, which is why I couldn't keep it any longer. It was hard to manipulate chakra.

Tired and wet, I dragged my feet behind Dai on the path home when he suddenly stopped and I bumped in him, nearly collapsing.

"Why did you stop like that?" I asked, frowning.

Dai didn't answer, in fact did nothing for a few more seconds, and then, moved to the side. I looked, where he was standing just a moment ago and saw none other than Sasuke Uchiha. He was not just passing by, he was here with a purpose and was looking straight at me.

"I want to talk to you," he said, loud enough to not be heard by the other people around.

"Um, okay."

Dai sent us off with suspicion in the eyes.

"So wha-"

"Were you there during the _massacre_?" the Uchiha asked, then, glanced at Dai to make sure he couldn't hear us.

I blinked. The last person I wanted to deal with now was him.

"The massacre? What are you talking about?" I tried to look confused, stared at him for a second, and added after I gaped. "Oh, that massacre."

He eyed me carefully but said nothing more.

"I think you are confused. If I had been there, I wouldn't be alive now. Right?"

"I can't know that," he murmured.

"Sasuke," I began again and saw him flinch, when I used his name. I continued with my honest opinion. "The…uh, massacre, happened years ago. You should stop looking in the past and searching for things that aren't there."

His eyes widened. I angered him.

"What I do is my business. You have no right to tell me what to do!" he said louder and, after a last glance, left.

"What did he want?" Dai asked when I returned.

"I think he's going crazy. He was questioning me about places I've never been at."

Dai didn't seem to believe me but said nothing.

That night I didn't sleep well. My mind was over how to get rid of Sasuke, who I knew, didn't buy my crap. I still hoped he'd forget about me sooner or later, however, I wanted to have a plan B – a lie, just in case. Only, nothing I came up with was fooling enough.

Another guy that doubted me today was Dai. At least for him I was certain – he wasn't ready to learn the truth behind the eradication of the Uchiha clan and the fact I had witnessed it. I wanted to test his trust carefully before revealing any more dangerous information.

After Kamiko, I had to be **very **careful.

And after I had managed to doze off, my dreams were haunted by the Sharingan nightmare again.

The days passed and I still couldn't stay on the surface for more than 2-3 minutes. At least, I was certain I wouldn't slip and that I had the **right** amount of chakra in my feet. With time and the many tries, I got used to it and knew when I'd put too much or too little. Genma had given me some chakra exercises for endurance that I practiced before falling asleep in my bed.

After seeing we preformed the basics nearly perfectly, our sensei, (he finally let us call him this way, even though only as a form of address.), revealed his training plans.

"You two are my apprentices, which means I will teach you everything I know," he explained. "And if you haven't already noticed I specialize in senbon." He pointed to the one in his mouth. "To be able to use senbon properly you need two things – chakra control and aim. Excellent aim. I saw already that Dai meets the first condition without even trying. Amaya, you, might not be suited for that. Now I want to test your aim."

And he revealed a big red target on the tree behind him.

He ended the lesson a bit disappointed as neither me nor Dai showed anything particularly fascinating.

"Precise chakra control is a gift but aiming is a skill – it can be learned and perfected," he said bitterly.

The next few weeks passed in only aiming exercises. Kunai were all over the training ground, the trees had many cuts and furrows and the red targets were getting more and more attention.

Genma, as laid-back and cool he looked, was ruthless when it came to training. He'd keep us without breaks, lunch and until it was so late and dark we couldn't see the targets anymore, when we as much as made a joke and couldn't concentrate. Sometimes it happened so that the other teams – Team 7, 8 or 10 – passed by our training ground heading for lunch or just home, while Dai and I couldn't catch our breath and weren't having the chance anytime soon.

That, however, paid off and by the end of the month we showed significant improvement. For the first time since we started training with him, he let us go home earlier as an award for job well done.

"So, what are we doing now?" Dai asked when we left in the early afternoon.

I had a bright smile on my face.

"I don't know. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Yeah, food!" Dai exclaimed and rubbed his stomach.

"Oh my God, can we go to Ichiraku's, please?" I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten there.

"Yeah, let's go, I'm starving."

It was indeed a strange hour to eat lunch and the shop was empty. We ordered our food and sat at the end, as usual, to wait. The ramen came rather fast and we dug in. We were so hungry and ate so fast and loudly, we didn't even notice someone else had entered before they spoke.

"Oh, man, I'm so hungry!"

"So am I! Are you, Sasuke-kun?"

I froze, a bunch of noodles hanging from my mouth.

You should eat, Sasuke-kun. You need your strength back, that mission-" Sakura chattered.

He wasn't listening to her. I could feel his eyes fixated on me.

I sucked in the noodles and tried to ignore Team 7, while in the same time wondering if they were back from their Wave mission. Not a second later, Dai turned to them with a wide grin.

"Hi, guys," he said cheerfully.

"Oh, hi, Dai, Amaya," Naruto greeted back.

Now that attention was drawn towards us I couldn't ignore them more.

"Hi," I muttered.

Something in Sasuke's eyes sparkled.

I hurriedly turned back to my bowl and almost shoved my head in it. The trio took their seats next to us and started a conversation with Dai and me, although I stubbornly didn't lift my eyes from the food. The only other person that didn't bother with talking was Sasuke. He also barely touched his ramen, when Teuchi came back with their orders, and looked deep in thought.

"So, who is your teacher anyway?" Naruto asked casually when the conversation reached the subject of training.

"Oh, he," Dai stuttered, not sure if he should tell them.

His obvious loss for words caught even the Uchiha's attention.

Not once have we had problems when it came to our little secret. Mostly due to the fact we didn't socialize like normal 12-year-olds. At first I had feared that the rumor will spread, that people with point fingers at us when we crossed the street but, **thankfully**, no such thing happened. Apparently, the authorities in Konoha were capable of keeping a secret. Figures, when you think that Naruto didn't know who his parents were for 16 years.

"I'm sure you haven't seen him around," Dai blurted out. "He doesn't really leave the training ground and we as well with him." He laughed nervously.

"I wish Kakashi-sensei did that as well. We could train so much harder, you know!"

Even I sighed in relief in my empty bowl when Naruto unintentionally changed the subject and forgot about his initial question.

I kept a close eye at Sasuke and noticed he observed me too. He obviously wanted to talk to me and my goal was to not let that happen. - That glimmer in his eyes from before; he knew something more than the last time we spoke.

"We better go," I said anxiously and nudged Dai in the ribs, signaling him. "We have a job to do."

"Uh, yeah," he played along.

We paid and, saying our goodbyes, left. While we walked away, I heard Sasuke saying he had to go too.

I kept glancing behind our backs the entire way to home and the Uchiha was on our trail.

"See you tomorrow morning," Dai said as he entered his apartment.

I nodded.

Coming through the door of my own flat, I wondered if Sasuke thought I'd wait for him and let him talk.

My mother saw me and quickly hid something, which I believed was the same book I had seen once. I didn't have too much time to think over it as someone rang in the front door.

"I'll open," I said, not even bothering to look through the peephole.

I opened the door and-

_'Damn, that guy is stubborn.'_

"We really need to talk," said Sasuke Uchiha in a monotone.

My mother was peeping out of the kitchen so I couldn't shut the door in his face. (Not that I dared, anyway.)

With a sigh, I moved away and said, "Come in."

My mother disappeared in her room with what, I swear, looked like smirk.

"Please, sit down," I pointed at the couch.

He instead sat in one of the armchairs next to it.

"Anything to drink?" I asked irritably.

He glared at me and shook his head.

"Let's just talk," he sort of hissed. "I know it was you."

"What, did you have a pre-death vision or something?" I asked as if careless as I sat on the couch.

His surprised expression was priceless.

"I don't see how that matters. So, what were you doing there?"

This time I couldn't beat about the bush and lie.

"I just got there," I stated simply.

"How?"

"I don't see how that matters."

Sasuke grit his teeth.

"Okay, then, why aren't you dead? You alone said last time we talked that you'd be."

"I never came across your brother."

"Nonsense!" he suddenly shouted. "E-everyone was already dead when I got there - you can't have missed him; it's just not possible."

I bit the inside of my lip.

If I admitted that Itachi let me go Sasuke'd just get more suspicious. His evil big brother, who murdered his own clan singlehandedly, decides to leave a little girl that had witnessed everything just go. It wasn't logical.

"As you say. I don't see why I should go back to these scarring memories for you," I snapped back. "What are you trying to find anyway?"

He stared at me for a while and finally sat up.

"I'll ask you again sometime and then you won't lie to me," he threatened. "Thanks for the chat."

"You are welcome." I sent him off to the door with a frown. "Good night."

My wasn't going to be.

"We are starting off with a simple task," said Genma the next morning, when Dai and I arrived. "I want you to transfer some of your chakra into those." He gave us a senbon each. "Don't ask questions, just try."

For about 10 minutes I struggled to rush my chakra to my fingertips and in the needle. Needless to say, I barely managed to do the former but transferring chakra to the senbon was impossible. With hands left shaking from the strain, I looked at Dai's result, actually expecting him to have succeeded. I was wrong – he was having just as much trouble as I did.

Genma came to inspect shortly after and a smirk graced his face.

"I would've been more than surprised if you could do it. To be able to work with your chakra so well, you have to start simple first. So, for what do we need the right amount of chakra?" he looked at us expectantly. After neither of us answered he continued with a scowl. "Amaya, you said it once on our very first lesson. Ninjutsu. Ninjustu is one of the best ways to get to know your chakra better and is, in the same time, one of the most important shinobi skills."

"Oh," I let out, a bit ashamed I didn't think of the answer.

"Dai, I gave you a jutsu to practice while Amaya learned Water Walking but you couldn't do it, right?"

He nodded.

"That's because you didn't know and therefore apply the theory."

"This is how our training will go from now on – We will begin with kunai, shuriken and senbon throwing, then, each of you will practice a jutsu in accordance with his chakra nature. We will finish with what we start. Also, at least once a week you'll have taijutsu only spars. Am I clear?"

"Yes!" Dai and I said simultaneously, although we didn't at all like the idea.

"Okay then, you know what to do with the targets."

One hour and many targets hit later, Genma let us rest, while explaining what we'll do next.

"As you should already know, to perform a certain jutsu we use hand signs. You've studied them in the Academy, although perfunctorily-"

I shivered, struck by the unpleasant memories of memorizing when I should've slept.

"-today I will recall them to you, adding additional details. Starting with the twelve basic seals, which you **better** know," he eyed us. "Monkey, Dragon, Rat, Bird, Snake, Ox, Dog, Horse, Tiger, Boar, Ram and Hare." He did each one after saying its name. "Now repeat and do them."

We got the names but other than that failed.

"You are expected not only to know them by heart but also to be able to perform them fast enough so you opponent can't see what you're up to. Now repeat."

We kept going and going, to the point we were irritable and hysteric. I had to hold back tears when I failed to do the Bird for the 100th time. Genma had a neutral expression but deep down he must've been truly amused.

I stopped, shut my eyes closed and sighed. My wrists and fingers throbbed.

"I don't remember giving you a break," Genma said immediately.

I glared at him and continued. All I needed was a second to calm down, he however didn't approve.

"Now. In front of me – do it faster," he ordered.

We simply failed.

"Again," he barked.

The second time was better, although a few fingers were sticking out randomly.

"See, that was, although insignificantly, better," Genma 'reassured' us. "Now try again."

We kept doing it fast until both of us began twisting our fingers, having reached our limit.

"Good," Genma nodded. "Now go on slower; like before."

More and more hours passed before one of us had had it.

"How much more of that?" Dai groaned. "Don't we have more theory to learn?"

Genma, who was chilling under the thick shadow of a tree, raised his brow.

"I will teach you the rest, when you master that completely," he stated flatly. "Now, let me see them fast again."

A complacent smile graced his face - we'd done it perfectly.

"Now, we can proceed," he said.

* * *

**A/N:** If anyone was confused and didn't understand what the 'jounin test' from the last chapter was, it's how I named the test jounin instructors give to their genin. An example is the test with the two bells. I've corrected it but wanted to make sure it was clear to all ;)


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